Thread by @terrence_mccoy

Last month, I went to a lawless border town to report on gangs seizing control of the pesticide trade. It was a dangerous assignment, so I hired a fixer. His name was Leo Veras. On Wednesday, in front of his family, he was murdered. This is what I know.

washingtonpost.com/world/the_amer…

I know Leo was a courageous journalist, and a creature of the border. He spoke fluent Portuguese, Spanish and the indigenous language Guarani. He’d reported on crime and drugs for decades, at great personal risk and nearly constant death threats.

I know Leo was a beloved husband and doted upon father. He brought his family with him wherever he went, and I ended up spending days with them, too. They saw two masked gunmen murder him while they ate dinner on Wednesday night at his house. They shot him 12 times.

“I never thought the last words you would ever hear me say would be, ‘Breath, dad, breath, we love you. Don’t say anything, just breath,’” his 14-year-old daughter wrote today.

I also know that, as a foreign correspondent, the ones who take the greatest risks are not us. They are the local people we hire. The ones without a major news org behind them, or an American passport, or a big Twitter following. But they are the ones who make this work possible.

They arrange interviews. They find records. Perhaps most importantly, they know what not to do. They keep us safe.

Thank you, Leo, for keeping me safe. And may you rest in peace.

A number of very kind and decent people have asked if there is some way to donate to Leo’s family. At the time of his death, he was the family’s sole source of income. This is the petition the family has set up.

airfunding.net/project/57273?…