Santiago Cárdenas Valdéz
Santiago Cárdenas Valdéz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Santiago Luís Cárdenas y Valdéz 12 March 1965 |
| Disappeared | 3 March 2017 (aged 51) Panachor, Zapatista, Creeperopolis |
| Nationality | Creeperian |
| Alma mater | Casa de Martínez University U. Antonio José Sáenz y Heredia |
| Occupation | Journalist, news presenter, commentator, writer |
| Years active | 1988–2017 |
| Employer | La Prensa TM (1988–1990) Tiempos de Xichútepa (1991–1995) Gaceta Creeperiano (1995–2017) |
Notable work | Ocurrencias del Sur (editorial) |
| Television | Ocurrencias del Sur (news show) Adentro de Mara Biografías Criminales |
| Spouse(s) | Josefa Ramírez Salinas (m. 1990) |
| Children | |
| Awards | Imperial Order of Romerism Common Creeperian of the Year (x2) |
Santiago Luís Cárdenas y Valdéz (12 March 1965 – disappeared 3 March 2017) was a Creeperian journalist, news presenter, commentator, and writer who specialized in covering topics related to the Mara War and organized crime in southern Creeperopolis. Cárdenas Valdéz wrote articles for the Gaceta Creeperiano national newspaper, most notably the Ocurrencias del Sur editorial, and hosted the Ocurrencias del Sur evening news show on Channel 2 until he was kidnapped in March 2017.
Born in San Lorenzo, Abdan, the deaths of two his brothers to gang violence during his youth and his service in the Creeperian Army during the early-1980s led him to grow an interest the events of the Mara War. While working for Tiempos de Xichútepa in the early-1990s, Cárdenas Valdéz began writing an editorial titled Ocurrencias del Sur which covered the events of the Mara War for a northern Creeperian audience which was not affected by the war. When he began working for the Gaceta Creeperiano in 1995, he continued to write Ocurrencias del Sur which eventually was published online for subscribers; Ocurrencias del Sur was one of the Gaceta Creeperiano's most read publications.
In October 2005, Cárdenas Valdéz was given his own news show on Channel 2 after his short spell on Grupo de Cinco proved to be popular with viewers. His news show was named Ocurrencias del Sur en Canal 2, later shortened to simply Ocurrencias del Sur, named directly after his editorial. The news show became one of Channel 2's most popular broadcasts and was given the channel's weekday evening slot to maximize viewership. Cárdenas Valdéz was involved in the production of the Adentro de Mara documentary which released in 2012 which led to critical acclaim and several threats being made against his life by Mara Salvatrucha, the criminal gang which was the subject of the documentary. From 2015 to 2017, Cárdenas Valdéz was involved in the production of Biografías Criminales, a documentary series which covered the biographies and cases of various living and deceased Creeperian criminals, leading to more critical praise and threats made against him.
In March 2017, while filming an episode of Biografías Criminales, Cárdenas Valdéz was kidnapped by Los'Sureños and held for ransom. The Gaceta Creeperiano refused to pay Los'Sureños' ransom and an investigation by the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) was unable to locate Cárdenas Valdéz and Los'Sureños never confirmed if they had killed Cárdenas Valdéz. After his kidnapping, Cárdenas Valdéz became a folk hero and icon for Creeperian journalists.
Contents
Early life
Santiago Luís Cárdenas y Valdéz was born on 12 March 1965 in San Lorenzo, Abdan, Creeperopolis. His father was Jaime Rodrigo Cárdenas y Zaldívar, a dairy farmer, and his mother was Paula Leonora Valdéz y Castro, who owned and operated a convenience store within the family's house. Cárdenas Valdéz had an older sister, Estefania, an older brother, Jaime, and a younger brother, Vicente. Cárdenas Valdéz and his siblings helped their mother operate the convenience store.
Throughout his childhood, Cárdenas Valdéz and his family lived in Barrio San Jacinto, a neighborhood on the outskirts of San Lorenzo. The neighborhood was considered to be territory of Los'Muchachos, a criminal gang, and as such, Cárdenas Valdéz's family was forced to pay an extortion tax to the gang every month. In September 1982, when Cárdenas Valdéz was seventeen years old, members of Los'Muchachos kidnapped his older brother Jaime and held him for ransom as his father was unable to pay the monthly tax. His father attempted to negotiate with Los'Muchachos and offered to give the gang free milk from his farm and free goods from the family's convenience store, but the gang refused and demanded cash for Jaime's release. After failing to pay the ransom, Jaime was executed as a threat towards the family.
After Jaime's death, Cárdenas Valdéz's younger brother, Vicente, decided to join Mara Salvatrucha to seek revenge for Jaime's death, despite Cárdenas Valdéz's pleas with him to not join the group. Vicente was initiated as a member of Mara Salvatrucha sometime in late-1982 and became involved in extortions, robberies, and assaults. In January 1983, as a direct result of his affiliation with Mara Salvatrucha, Vicente was killed in a drive-by shooting by members of Los'Muchachos who considered Vicente to be invading the gang's territory.
In 1983, Cárdenas Valdéz enlisted in the Creeperian Army to complete his required four years of service. He was deployed in Zapatista and served during the Mara War, an asymmetric war being fought by the Creeperian government against criminal gangs, paramilitaries, and organized crime in the country. Cárdenas Valdéz served until 1986 when he was honorably discharged, completing his service with the rank of corporal. In 1987, Cárdenas Valdéz enrolled in the Casa de Martínez University in Tuxtla Martínez and studied journalism and political science. After graduating in 1990, he continued his studies at the Antonio José Sáenz y Heredia University in Nuevo Xichútepa, graduating in 1992.
Early career
While studying in Tuxtla Martínez, in 1988, Cárdenas Valdéz enrolled in an internship program with La Prensa TM, a newspaper which circulated in the city. From 1988 to 1990, he wrote news articles about the city's politics and the events of the Mara War in the city. After moving to Nuevo Xichútepa in 1991, Cárdenas Valdéz attained a job with the Tiempos de Xichútepa, that city's local newspaper, writing about the city's politics. After completing his degree in 1992, he continued working for the Tiempos de Xichútepa.
Cárdenas Valdéz had been interested in covering the events of the war due to his personal connection to it from his brothers' deaths in the early-1980s. As an intern for La Prensa TM, Cárdenas Valdéz was able to write news article about the war, but only the events which occurred in Tuxtla Martínez. Meanwhile, when he worked for the Tiempos de Xichútepa, he was unable to cover the war at all as it was primarily being fought in southern Creeperopolis, Xichútepa being a city in northern Creeperopolis where little fighting occurred. While in Nuevo Xichútepa, Cárdenas Valdéz convinced the newspaper to allow him to write one opinion editorial per week regarding the Mara War to inform the newspaper's readers about events in southern Creeperopolis, as long as his opinion editorials were approved by government censors. His weekly editorial was titled Ocurrencias del Sur ("Occurrences of the South") and was displayed on page eight of the newspaper; over a few months, Ocurrencias del Sur received positive feedback from readers, prompting the newspaper to move the editorial to page three, the furthest ahead that it could legally be moved up to.
Gaceta Creeperiano
Ocurrencias del Sur editorial
In early-1995, Cárdenas Valdéz left the Tiempos de Xichútepa and began working for the Gaceta Creeperiano, Creeperopolis' largest newspaper. He initially began his career with the Gaceta Creeperiano by writing articles about national politics and about the country's military operations in the Mara War. In mid-1995, the Tiempos de Xichútepa agreed to allow Cárdenas Valdéz to continue using the Ocurrencias del Sur name while writing for the Gaceta Creeperiano, and the Gaceta Creeperiano allowed Cárdenas Valdéz to make Ocurrencias del Sur a daily editorial on page three of the newspaper. By late-1997, Cárdenas Valdéz almost exclusively wrote news covering the Mara War, the military's operations in the war, and the crimes committed by the gangs and paramilitaries as a part of the war on Ocurrencias del Sur.
In 1999, Cárdenas Valdéz began writing for the Gaceta Creeperiano's website, with editions of Ocurrencias del Sur being released both in print and online. The online publications were available for free but received less viewership than the printed publications for a few years. As access to the internet increased in Creeperopolis during the 2000s, the online publications of all of Gaceta Creeperiano's works, including Ocurrencias del Sur, began to receive more viewership overtime. In 2009, the Gaceta Creeperiano made a subscription required to read Ocurrencias del Sur online as it had become one of the newspaper's most popular editorials.
Until 2006, Ocurrencias del Sur was entirely written by Cárdenas Valdéz himself. Beginning in 2003, Cárdenas Valdéz worked with some editors to improve the quality of the editorial's publications, and in 2006, Cárdenas Valdéz agreed to work with other journalists and writers in producing content for Ocurrencias del Sur By 2010, Cárdenas Valdéz worked with four other journalists on Ocurrencias del Sur, and by 2017, he worked with eleven other journalists.
Ocurrencias del Sur news show
The Gaceta Creeperiano had owned and operated the Channel 2 television station since 1967 where the newspaper broadcast news shows and talkshows. In January 2005, José Fuentes Casanova, one of the five co-hosts of the Grupo de Cinco talkshow announced his retirement, the Gaceta Creeperiano sought to find a replacement for Fuentes Casanova rather than cancel the show. The Gaceta Creeperiano asked Cárdenas Valdéz to temporarily fill in the position until a new co-host could be found. Cárdenas Valdéz agreed to fill in for Fuentes Casanova. He was selected as the Gaceta Creeperiano's other talkshow and news show hosts were unable to fill in due to conflicting schedules. In Cárdenas Valdéz's first week as a co-host on Grupo de Cinco, the news show reportedly received an increase in viewership as a result of Cárdenas Valdéz's co-hosting. Viewers praised Cárdenas Valdéz's manner of speaking and the way in which he presented the news and debated the other co-hosts.
In July 2005, the Gaceta Creeperiano signed Carlos Franco Rodríguez to the Grupo de Cinco to officially replace Fuentes Casanova, and Cárdenas Valdéz last appeared on the news show. Although he was no longer a co-host of Grupo de Cinco, the Gaceta Creeperiano saw how the new show's ratings increased as a result of Cárdenas Valdéz's co-hosting and offered to give him his own show on Channel 2. Cárdenas Valdéz agreed and signed a two year contract to host a weekend news show based on his work on the Ocurrencias del Sur editorial. The news show was called Ocurrencias del Sur en Canal 2, being named off of the Ocurrencias del Sur editorial to entice viewership. The show first aired on 15 October 2005 and received 1.2 million viewers. Within its first two months, Ocurrencias del Sur en Canal 2 became the Gaceta Creeperiano's highest rated weekend program, receiving an average of 1.8 million viewers per segment.
With the rapid success of Ocurrencias del Sur en Canal 2, the Gaceta Creeperiano and Cárdenas Valdéz negotiated a new contract, voiding the two-year contract signed in October 2005. In December 2005, Cárdenas Valdéz signed a five year contract and moved Ocurrencias del Sur en Canal 2 from a weekend evening slot to a weekday evening slot. Ocurrencias del Sur en Canal 2 replaced Noticias a la'7 con Duarte Jalisco after its host, Sebastián Duarte Jalisco, announced his retirement, and aired at 7 p.m. TSS in the slot just before Grupo de Cinco. The weekend airing of Ocurrencias del Sur en Canal 2 first aired on 26 December 2005 and received 2.1 million viewers.
On his show, Cárdenas Valdéz presented news regarding the Mara War and gave input with his own opinions. His commentary was supportive of the government and critical of the gangs and paramilitaries, in part due to government censorship prohibiting criticism of the government or support for anti-government forces. Cárdenas Valdéz generally presented the news alone, but sometimes brought on guests to interview, discuss a topic with, or present eyewitness testimony about an occurrence. In 2009, the show was renamed to Ocurrencias del Sur con Cárdenas Valdéz, and then in 2011, it was shortened to simply Ocurrencias del Sur, the same as the editorial.
The news show was consistently one of the highest rated programs on Channel 2, receiving an average of 3.8 million viewers per segment from 2005 to 2008. In 2008, Ocurrencias del Sur was moved to the 8 p.m. TSS slot, with Grupo de Cinco being moved to the 7 p.m. TSS slot; the slot change increased the news show's rating, receiving an average of 4.5 million viewers per segment from 2008 to 2017. As the program's contract expired in December 2010, Cárdenas Valdéz signed a new contract to renew Ocurrencias del Sur for ten more years. As a part of the contract, the news show's set was upgraded to be located at the Plaza de la'Gaceta overlooking downtown San Salvador.
Adentro de Mara
In 2009, the Gaceta Creeperiano and Cárdenas Valdéz signed a contract to produce a one and a half hour investigative documentary titled Adentro de Mara about Mara Salvatrucha, the country's largest criminal gang and paramilitary organization. The concept was approved by the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), the country's intelligence agency and secret police. From 2009 to 2010, the Gaceta Creeperiano cooperated with the DINA and the Creeperian Imperial Police (PIC) to acquire videos which were secretly recorded within Mara Salvatrucha; neither the Gaceta Creeperiano, DINA, nor PIC confirmed who recorded the videos. Cárdenas Valdéz narrated Adentro de Mara, explaining and adding commentary to the videos showed in the documentary.
Adentro de Mara was released on Channel 2 in October 2012. The documentary received critical acclaim within Creeperopolis for bringing focus to what occurs within Mara Salvatrucha's internal structure and for being able to infiltrate the organization. Viewers reacted positively to the documentary, and it was one of the most viewed documentaries produced by the Gaceta Creeperiano that year, receiving 6.4 million viewers when it first aired. In December 2012, the Gaceta Creeperiano named Cárdenas Valdéz as the Common Creeperian of the Year—an award bestowed by the newspaper on non-political, non-military, and non-royal Creeperans who had done a significant contribution to Creeperopolis that year—for his role in the production of Adentro de Mara. On 15 September 2013, during the country's annual 15 September National Unity Parade, Emperor Alexander II awarded Cárdenas Valdéz the cross grade of the Imperial Order of Romerism for "exceptional service to the destined political and patriotic cause of the Fatherland".
The documentary was condemned by Mara Salvatrucha, and the gang's leader, Alexander Ramírez Umaña, issued a death warrant against Cárdenas Valdéz for espionage and defaming the organization. On 18 March 2013, Cárdenas Valdéz's older sister, Estefania, was killed in a drive-by shooting in San Lorenzo. Mara Salvatrucha claimed responsibility for her death as a direct threat to Cárdenas Valdéz for his role in producing Adentro de Mara. On the very next segment of Ocurrencias del Sur, Cárdenas Valdéz stated that he would not be silenced by Mara Salvatrucha for conducting his journalism and vowed to continue covering the Mara War and Mara Salvatrucha's actions. Shortly following the segment, "Never Silence" (Creeperian: "Nunca el Silencio") became the slogan for both the Ocurrencias del Sur editorial and news show.
Biografías Criminales
In 2013, following the success of Adentro de Mara, Cárdenas Valdéz signed a contract to begin production on a documentary series titled Biografías Criminales. The documentary series would consist of one hour episodes aired every weekend which covered the biographies of various Creeperian criminals and the actions they committed. The series covered criminals who were fugitives, imprisoned, or deceased. Production of the documentary series' first season began in late-2013 and promotion for the documentary series began in late-2014. Biografías Criminales first aired on 13 June 2015, running for 26 episodes until 5 December 2015. The series was received positively by critics and was one of the most popular weekend programs.
The Gaceta Creeperiano approved Biografías Criminales to begin production for a second season due to the series' popularity. Season two first aired on 11 June 2016, running for 26 episodes until 3 December 2016. Season two, like season one, receive positive reviews from critics and was the most popular weekend program on Channel 2. In late-December 2016, the Gaceta Creeperiano approved the production of a third season for Biografías Criminales.
While season one focused more on deceased criminals, season two focused more on fugitives and was presented in a tone calling for viewers to help lead to the arrests of the criminals highlighted in the series. From June 2016 to February 2017, five of the sixteen fugitives covered in the series' season two were arrested, and Cárdenas Valdéz himself attributed their arrest in part due to the influence of Biografías Criminales. As a result, various gangs condemned the series and issued various threats against Cárdenas Valdéz, demanding he cease his journalist work. Cárdenas Valdéz responded by rejecting the threats and vowing to continue his work to help "cleanse the Fatherland".
Style of journalism
Cárdenas Valdéz's style of journalism was described by his contemporaries as being atypical to the usual style of delivery used by other journalists. On his news show, he spoke in a loud and direct tone and directly addressed the viewers; on his editorial, he wrote in a direct and straight-forward manner, and like on his news show, he also directly addressed the viewers. When debating with individuals on Grupo de Cinco and Ocurrencias del Sur, Cárdenas Valdéz frequently raised his voice and asserted his opinion as being the "most correct". He also overtly mocked and challenged many gangs on Ocurrencias del Sur and Biografías Criminales, and frequently expressed his extreme dislike towards the country's gangs. Reportedly, according to the Gaceta Creeperiano, this style proved to be popular with viewers as it differed from other styles of commentary.
Cárdenas Valdéz frequently wore a toquilla hat whenever he was in public or filming for Ocurrencias del Sur and Biografías Criminales. The hat was a gift given to him by Domingo Barrios Pérez, a colleague of his while working at La Prensa TM. Cárdenas Valdéz wore the hat in Barrios Pérez's honor after he was killed by the 18th Street Gang in April 1990 for reporting on a spike of killings committed by the gang earlier that year.
Criticism
Cárdenas Valdéz and his work were sometimes criticized, particularly by foreign analysts and journalists who described his work as "biased", "misleading", and "inaccurate". He was also labeled as a "mouthpiece" for the Creeperian government, the Creeperian military, and the Creeperian Initiative (IC), Creeperopolis' sole legal political party. They alleged that Cárdenas Valdéz presented the information on Ocurrencias del Sur and Biografías Criminales, not in a way to bypass Creeperian government censorship, but in a way to actively spread pro-government propaganda.
Giulia Sossta, a writer for the Trentineis Zeita newspaper, stated that Cárdenas Valdéz was a "well written and respectable journalist", but that he also "spoke in a very passionate and sometimes condescending manner". Sossta also voiced similar concerns that Cárdenas Valdéz was overly supportive of the government in his work. Gustave Lemaître, a writer for The Quebecshire City Times, described Cárdenas Valdéz as an "apologist for human rights abuses committed by the government and military" and a "willing cog in the government's propaganda machine".
Orlando Hernández Alvarado, the owner of the El Faro fake news website, alleged that Cárdenas Valdéz falsified much of the news he presented to present the government and the military favorably. Hernández Alvarado claimed that the government directly ordered Cárdenas Valdéz to falsify information and what to falsify. Cárdenas Valdéz directly addressed Hernández Alvarado's accusations on a segment of Ocurrencias del Sur in 2015, mocking Hernández Alvarado and stating that it was "ironic" that Hernández Alvarado would be criticizing him of spreading fake news. Cárdenas Valdéz invited Hernández Alvarado to appear on Ocurrencias del Sur in person, daring him to do so as Hernández Alvarado had an active warrant for his arrest in Creeperopolis; Hernández Alvarado rejected Cárdenas Valdéz's invitation.
Personal life
Family
Cárdenas Valdéz married Josefa Marleni Ramírez y Salinas in 1990. The two met while both were studying journalism at the Casa de Martínez University. The couple had three children: Santiago Alfonso Cárdenas y Ramírez (born 1991), Romero Mauricio Cárdenas y Ramírez (born 1995), and Xihomara Guadalupe Cárdenas y Ramírez (born 1998). Ramírez Salinas works as a writer for the Noticias de la'Iniciativa, the newspaper of the Creeperian Initiative, and also as a co-host of the Cosas de la'Iniciativa news show on Channel 10.
The couple's three children have also become journalists. Due to their relation to Cárdenas Valdéz and Ramírez Salinas, all three have acquired for themselves prominent roles in the country's news industry: Santiago is a writer for the Gaceta Creeperiano and was a co-host of the Grupo de Cinco on Channel 2, and later replaced his father on Ocurrencias del Sur in 2017; Romero is a writer for the Nuevas LI sports newspaper and a co-host for the Noticias de la'Liga sports news show on Channel 4; and Xihomara is a writer for Noticias de la'Iniciativa and is one of the newspaper's most prominent Cortes Generales on-site reporters on Channel 10. Each of them have stated that their parents inspired them to pursue a career in journalism.
Political views
Cárdenas Valdéz became a member of the Creeperian Initiative on 8 July 1988. He did not join the party out for ideological reasons, but rather to help further his career as a journalist, as membership in the party helped improve his resumé and allowed him to pursue more lucrative employment possibilities. While hosting his news show and in the documentaries he featured in, Cárdenas Valdéz frequently praised the Creeperian government's and military's actions during the Mara War. Outside of supporting the government, Cárdenas Valdéz did not talk much about political ideology, but did confirm that he supported Romerism, the official political ideology of the Creeperian government. He also stated the he supports enforcing the death penalty for members of criminal gangs and paramilitaries.
Kidnapping
On 6 October 2013, 22 March 2016, and 7 January 2017, Cárdenas Valdéz survived three assassination attempts. The first was attempted in San Salvador by Mara Salvatrucha in retaliation for the release of Adentro de Mara; Cárdenas Valdéz was shot once in the arm but survived. The second was attempted, also in San Salvador, by a former member of Amadio in retaliation for Cárdenas Valdéz's coverage of Juan Bermúdez Murillo, the group's former leader, on an episode of Biografías Criminales, claiming that Bermúdez Murillo had been defamed; Cárdenas Valdéz survived unharmed. The third was attempted in Tuxtla Martínez by Mara Salvatrucha, both in retaliation for Adentro de Mara but also because Francisco Méndez Linares, the leader of Mara Salvatrucha in Helam, was arrested a few months after his biography was covered on Biografías Criminales. Gunmen of Mara Salvatrucha shot at Cárdenas Valdéz while filming a segment for the third season of Biografías Criminales, he was shot three times in the abdomen but survived.
On 3 March 2017, Cárdenas Valdéz was in Panachor to film scenes for an episode for season three of Biografías Criminales; the episode was covering the biography of Antonio Castañón Salinas, a member of Mara Salvatrucha who killed 14 people in Zapatista between 2008 and 2009. He and the production crew had arrived at a hotel in the city to prepare for filming that weekend. That morning, the production crew found that Cárdenas Valdéz was not in his hotel room and that the room showed signed of a fight having occurred. The production crew notified the Creeperian Imperial Police and a missing persons case was opened for Cárdenas Valdéz's disappearance, with kidnapping being suspected.
The following day, representatives of the Los'Sureños gang announced that they had kidnapped Cárdenas Valdéz in retaliation for his coverage of Nicolás Lemus Quijada, the gang's leader from 1999 to 2014, on season two of Biografías Criminales, which the gang described as "defamatory", "slanderous", and "full of lies". Los'Sureños demanded that the Gaceta Creeperiano pay a ransom of ₡50 million colóns[note 1] and cancel season three of Biografías Criminales. The Gaceta Creeperiano refused to accept Los'Sureños' demands and the DINA began an investigation into Cárdenas Valdéz's kidnapping.
After a two year-long investigation, the DINA was unable to determine the individuals who kidnapped Cárdenas Valdéz or determine Cárdenas Valdéz's whereabouts. After two months, Los'Sureños stopped demanding that the Gaceta Creeperiano pay the ransom for Cárdenas Valdéz's release, but the gang never stated that they had killed Cárdenas Valdéz. Most journalists believe that Cárdenas Valdéz was killed by Los'Sureños sometime between March and May 2017, however, Cárdenas Valdéz is legally considered to be alive by the Creeperian government. He will only be considered legally dead when his body is discovered, Los'Sureños confirms that they killed him, or the governments declares him legally dead on 12 March 2045 when he would be 80 years old.
Following his kidnapping, Hernández Alvarado claimed that Cárdenas Valdéz was killed by the Creeperian government as he "knew too much" about the government's actions during the Mara War, and that the government paid Los'Sureños to announce that they kidnapped him in order to deflect blame. Hernández Alvarado's claim has been widely denounced and discredited as false and a baseless conspiracy theory.
Legacy
Both the Ocurrencias del Sur editorial and news show continued following Cárdenas Valdéz's kidnapping to honor his slogan of "Never Silence". The editorial's team of writers continued publishing issues; in 2018, editorial's subscription requirement was discontinued and all of its publications were made publicly available for free. The news show reran the last episode filmed for the news show on 3 March 2017 for the following week. On 12 March 2017, what would have been Cárdenas Valdéz's 52nd birthday, the Gaceta Creeperiano aired an evening marathon of Adentro de Mara on Channel 2. The following day, Cárdenas Valdéz's son Santiago temporarily replaced him, eventually officially replacing him in June 2017 after signing a six year contract. Santiago signed an extended eight year contract in June 2023 to continue hosting Ocurrencias del Sur.
In 2017, the Plaza Rosa located in Panachor was renamed to the Cárdenas Valdéz Plaza to honor his work. A bust of Cárdenas Valdéz was unveiled in the plaza in 2018 with his slogan "Never Silence" being written on the pedestal. That year, Cárdenas Valdéz was posthumously named by the Gaceta Creeperiano as the Common Creeperian of the Year. Additionally, both the Casa de Martínez University and the Antonio José Sáenz y Heredia University posthumously awarded him honorary doctorates for his work.
Following his kidnapping, various talk shows across the country, both political and non-political talk shows, discussed Cárdenas Valdéz and his contributions as a commentator and presenter. During March 2017, several commentators and news presenters wore toquilla hats to honor Cárdenas Valdéz; some commentators continue to wear a toquilla hat every 3 March, the anniversary of Cárdenas Valdéz's kidnapping.
Awards and honors
State awards and honors
Cross of the Imperial Order of Romerism (15 September 2013)
3rd class member of the Order of the Creeperian Initiative (8 July 1988)
2nd class member of the Order of the Crusaders' Cross (15 September 1984)
2nd class member of the Cross of Adolfo I (1 January 1986)
2nd class member of the Medal of Valor (1 January 1985)
1st class member of the Mara Campaign Medal (1 January 1984)
Member of the Campaign Medal (1 January 1984)
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Organization awards and honors
- Gaceta Creeperiano's Common Creeperian of the Year (2012 and 2017)
- Cárdenas Valdéz Plaza named after him in Panachor (2017)
Academic degrees
- Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the Casa de Martínez University (1990)
- Bachelor's degree in Political Science & Government from the Casa de Martínez University (1990)
- Master's degree in Journalism from the Antonio José Sáenz y Heredia University (1992)
- Master's degree in Political Science & Government the the Antonio José Sáenz y Heredia University (1992)
- Honorary doctorate from the Casa de Martínez University (2017)
- Honorary doctorate from the Antonio José Sáenz y Heredia University (2017)
See also
 Creeperopolis portal |
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