Music

The Guacamaya Leaks Allege the Mexican Army Kept an Eye on Mon Laferte

Lead Photo: Photo by Mayra Ortiz.
Photo by Mayra Ortiz.
Read more

Yesterday (Oct. 5), a report by hacktivist group Guacamaya started making rounds with purported confidential documents from Mexico’s national defense department. The leaked documents allegedly included a report of the Chilean singer Mon Laferte and feminist groups being watched closely by the Mexican army.

Guacamaya actually released the bombshell reports three weeks ago. The report included alleged documents taken from Mexico’s SEDENA department (Servicio de Defensa Nacional), Policía Nacional Civil in El Salvador, the Comando General de las Fuerzas Militares in Colombia, and the Fuerza Armada in El Salvador and the Ejercito of Peru. 

What’s circulating online the most at the moment are the purported documents from Mexico’s SEDENA department. Among the thousands of pages in Guacamaya’s report are documents noting that the Mexican army was keeping a close eye on Laferte and other feminist groups. From 2017 to 2022, Laferte and these groups were reportedly put on watch. 

According to El Desconcierto, Laferte was considered “a danger due to her songs.” Her music is known for carrying empowering feminist messages. She was reportedly put on watch for her involvement in a feminist meeting called II International Meeting of Women in Struggle, along with traditional medicine healer and human rights activist Marichuy. 

In the Guacamaya report, 15 feminist collective groups were named and reportedly under watch by the Mexican army. A few of those groups included la Coordinadora 8M, Colectivo Feminista de Economía, and Las Brujas del Mar.

Last week, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed the cyberattack by Guacamaya. In a press conference on Sept. 30, he acknowledged that databases in Mexico and other Latin American countries were hacked.

“I understand that this group has already done the same thing in other countries, I think in Colombia and in Chile. That is why I think that it is something that is being directed from abroad,” President Obrador said. “Is it domestic? I doubt it. Someone informed me that they have done it in Guatemala, Colombia, Chile, and El Salvador.”