Is La Voz in 'Narcos: Mexico' a Real Newspaper?
Narcos: Mexico Season 3 introduces a number of new characters, including journalist Andrea Nuñez played by Luisa Rubino.
The character is determined to seek out the truth no matter the cost, and spends the season trying to uncover the corruption in the Mexican government and their ties to the drug cartels.
Nuñez works for La Voz, a newspaper trying to inform the public of what's really going on in their country, with the team doing everything they can to avoid the government's censorship and influence.
Rubino spoke with Newsweek about her character, and we can reveal everything you need to know about the publication.
On Andrea Nuñez's search for truth
Nuñez is the face of La Voz in Season 3 of Narcos: Mexico, and Rubino reflected on her character with Newsweek, saying she felt she was "brave" for facing danger in order to find the truth.
Of her character she said: "She's great, I think my first thought that came to my mind was thank God I'm going to be able to play her, you know?
"Because I found so many things that were similar between us, between Andrea and me, so that gave me the possibility to build the character in a better way and, well, she's great."
Rubino continued: "She's brave, she goes for the truth and she doesn't get, she's aware she's in danger most of the time but she goes on and she wants to be noticed.
"She wants to get her job done the best way possible, even if she has to die or be this close to death she'll still do it. Why? Because she feels that is what she was born [to do]. So she was great, super brave, and I love her honestly."
Was La Voz a real newspaper?
A lot of Narcos: Mexico is based on truth and is a retelling of historical events, but not everything is actually what happened.
La Voz is one such example of this, as the newspaper is not real. That said, it is inspired by a publication that did exist: Zeta magazine.
In Narcos: Mexico, La Voz is run by editor Ramon Salgado (Alejandro Furth) who is determined to reveal the names of members of the cartels and expose their ties to the government.
He ensures the newspaper avoids censorship by having it printed in San Diego and then shipped back to Mexico, and when threats start to be made against his reporters he decides to remove their bylines for safety.
Zeta magazine's editor Jesús Blancornelas is similar to Salgado as he made sure the publication exposed Mexico's criminal underworld regardless of the threat it could pose to him or his team.
An assassination attempt was made on Blancornelas in 1997 after he published a photo of Tijuana cartel drug lord Ramón Arellano Félix, and this is recreated in Narcos: Mexico with Salgado.
Blancornelas survived the attack, but the people he co-founded the newspaper with, Héctor Félix Miranda and Francisco Ortiz Franco, were both murdered for their work.
Miranda was killed in 1988 by bodyguards of politician Jorge Hank Rhon and Franco was shot 2004 in an attack in what was believed to be retaliation for his coverage of the Tijuana cartel.
The magazine's current editor Adela Navarro Bello was working for the magazine at the time of Blancornelas' 1997 assassination attempt, and she appears to be the inspiration for Nuñez.
Narcos: Mexico Season 1-3 is out on Netflix now.
