Armando Alters Montaño (December 2, 1989 – June 30, 2012), was an American journalist. After having just graduated with a bachelor's degree from Grinnell College, Montaño was found dead at age 22 while working as a news intern for the Associated Press in Mexico City, Mexico.
One of Montaño's last stories was about a violent stand-off at the Mexico City International Airport between Mexican federal police and corrupt officers. He was not on assignment when he died. The circumstances of his death led to widespread media coverage.
At least two awards have been established in his name.
Background
After learning of his death, The Washington Post tweeted that the US Embassy in Mexico was investigating his death. The Post later retracted the tweet after that assertion appeared incorrect. His family with the help of the AP sought more details. The Ministry of Public Security (Mexico City) led an investigation into Montaño's death. One year after his death, the case was still open.
Montaño died on the day before the 2012 Mexican general election but was not reporting on the election. KUSA in Denver, Colorado reported that his last story for the AP was about a shooting involving police and corrupt officers, in which 3 police officers were killed. As a result of that shootout, Mexico replaced just under 350 federal police at the airport in August.
Personal
Armando Montaño grew up Colorado Springs, Colorado and was an aspiring journalist throughout college. He was a graduate of Grinnell College, where he majored in Spanish with a concentration in Latin American studies. He was a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Journalists. A friend of Montaño's told Metro Weekly that Montaño appreciated the perspective and insights gained from identifying as "half-white, half-Mexican, and openly gay."
Born in Massachusetts, he moved to Colorado with his parents, Mario Montaño and Diane Alters, but he also lived in Costa Rica for two years as a child and spent time in Argentina and the US-Mexico border. Montaño's father is a professor and chair of the anthropology department at Colorado College, while his mother is an academic communications specialist and former assistant editor for the Denver Post.
Montaño is Mexican-American, with a white mother and a first-generation Mexican-American father from Texas. Montaño stated in one of his articles that his cousins would call him "Wexican" to refer to his lighter skin. Montaño enjoyed cooking, and learned from his father starting at the age of five. He said it taught him how to channel his frustrations of growing up biracial in the United States and allowed him to create foods that were neither Mexican nor American cuisine.
Services were held July 15, 2012 for Montaño at Shove Memorial Chapel on the Colorado College campus. Later services were held at the Grinnell College campus on 30 September 2012.
Career
While attending the Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, Armando Montaño wrote for the school newspaper and interviewed actress Daryl Hannah and director John Sayles for an interview about their Colorado-based movie "Silver City". In 2007, Montaño was chosen as a guest columnist for the "Colorado Voices" in the Denver Post. He also completed four internships before his death, which allowed him to write political and investigative stories. The newspapers he held the internships with were The New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Seattle Times and Colorado Independent. Montaño also wrote for the Grinnell College school newspaper, known as the Scarlet & Black, in Grinnell, Iowa. He was also a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Journalists.
Death
Armando Montaño died in Mexico City, Mexico on 30 June 2012. He was pronounced dead after being found in an elevator shaft in an apartment building near his home in the Condesa neighborhood. The cause of death was suffocation. Montaño's wallet was gone, but his flip phone was still on his person when he was found. During Montaño's time in Mexico City, he was interning for the Associated Press.