Illustration Hans Leguízamo.
The journalistic community in Mexico is in mourning. The country has become the most dangerous place to practice any kind of journalism without being in a state of war. From January 1 to date, 11 journalists have been murdered in Mexico.
Just this Monday, May 9, two murders of journalists were reported in Mexico, Yesenia Mollinedo Falconi and Sheila Johana Garcia Olivera, both - director and reporter, respectively - part of the portal "El Veraz" which is located in the state of Veracruz.
According to police reports, the journalists were shot dead while they were in a car outside a convenience store in Cosoleacaque, Veracruz.
As in other cases of journalists murdered in this state, the Veracruz Attorney General's Office said it has opened an investigation file to clarify the facts.
Just four days before the double murder, on Thursday, May 5, in the north of the country, in Culiacán, Sinaloa, the body of the analyst and political columnist, Luis Enrique Ramirez Ramos was found dead.
The founding director of the news site Credible Sources, was found on the morning of May 5 on a dirt road that runs from Mexico Highway 15 to Campestre Las Nanchis, in Culiacán, Sinaloa. He was wrapped in plastic. He had been kidnapped outside his home the day before. Ramírez Ramos was a journalist, analyst and political columnist, as well as a writer. His work was widely known in that state.
It seems that the attackers know that there is total impunity in the country, as violence against journalists does not stop despite calls from national and foreign organizations that have made clear the seriousness of the murders of journalists in Mexico.
In addition to the three murders of journalists in Mexico in the last week, there are eight more.
Jose Luis Gamboa Arenas He was stabbed to death on January 10 in the state of Veracruz. According to authorities, the crime could have been due to an alleged assault. Gamboa was the founder and editor of the news portal Inforegio, where he addressed security issues, as well as being one of the founders and editors of the digital media La Noticia.
Margarito Esquivel Martinez He was shot dead outside his home in Tijuana, Baja California, just 7 days after Gamboa. The photojournalist focused on security and police-related stories for Semanario Zeta and Grupo Cadena, and his work was published by international media outlets such as the BBC.
As if it were a cruel joke, seven days after Margarito's death, she was murdered journalist shot Lourdes Maldonado, once again in Tijuana. "I fear for my life," she said to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during the morning press conference held at the National Palace, as she had received threats. Five days later she was shot when she arrived at her home, where she died.
The last day of January, Roberto Toledo, a contributor to the Monitor Michoacán portal, was gunned down as he left his office in Zitácuaro, Michoacán. Despite maintaining a low profile, as he had already received threats for his journalistic work, he was killed. The presidential spokesman, Jesús Ramírez, condemned the murder, however, he pointed out that Toledo was not a journalist but an assistant at the office where he was killed. Statements that outraged a profession fed up with injustice and attacks on its work from the presidential "pulpit."
February did not open any better, and the murders of journalists in Mexico continued on February 10, Heber Lopez, director of the Noticias Web portal, was shot dead upon arriving at his home in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca. López, 39, had been working as a journalist for 18 years, especially covering issues of corruption and security, which earned him several threats.
14 days later, on February 24, Jorge Camero Zazueta, director of the El Informativo website, was shot to death inside a gym he regularly attended in Cajeme, Sonora. The crime occurred just two weeks after he resigned from his position as private secretary to the mayor of Empalme, Sonora, Luis Fuentes Aguilar, and resumed his journalistic activities on the website he created.
The first victim of March was Juan Carlos Muniz, a police reporter for the digital media outlet Testigo Minero, who was shot dead on March 4 in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, inside his vehicle, which he used both to travel to his reporting and to provide taxi services.
619 kilometers away from that murder, on March 15, Armando Linares, a reporter for the news portal Monitor Michoacán, was shot dead inside his home in Zitácuaro, Michoacán. On January 31 of this year, Linares had requested security measures from the Federal Government Protection Mechanism due to various threats against him, but these were denied on the grounds that he was not a journalist.
From this media outlet located in San Francisco Bay, California, USA, we deeply condemn the murders of Mexican journalists who seek to freely and safely carry out their journalistic work in Mexico, while, as fellow citizens, we demand that the government clarify, resolve and exercise the full weight of the law against those who took the lives of these and all the murdered journalists.
We also demand that all reporters, photographers, cameramen, writers, editors and other journalistic positions be protected by the State, because, although our media is focused on the Latino community in California, we have collaborators who carry out their work in Mexico and today their integrity is compromised.
You may be interested in: 7 journalists murdered in Mexico
