Mexico: Second journalist killed in eight days

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Margarito Martínez: worked for years as a photojournalist in the Mexican border town of Tijuana

Photo:

John Gibbins / The San Diego Union-Tribune / picture alliance

A journalist has been killed in Mexico for the second time in the new year.

Photojournalist Margarito Martínez was shot dead on Monday as he left his home in Tijuana, according to initial information.

This is reported by his wife and the media for which he worked.

The 49-year-old had taken photos for several local and international media in the northwestern Mexican city on the border with the United States, especially for reports on crime.

Criminal gangs are active in Tijuana, smuggling drugs and migrants into the United States and kidnapping people.

Another killed journalist in Veracruz

The background to the fact was initially unclear.

According to colleagues, Martínez had had trouble with a person believed to be involved in drug trafficking.

According to media rights group Yo sí soy periodista (I am a journalist), Martínez had previously received threats from people linked to organized crime.

One of Martínez's employers, Zeta magazine, reported a dispute with a neighbor.

Just a week earlier, José Luis Gamboa, the director of an online portal, was killed in the eastern Mexican city of Veracruz - reportedly with a stabbing weapon.

Even in this case, the exact background is still unknown.

Mexico was the most dangerous country for journalists for the third year in a row, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders.

According to this, seven journalists were killed in connection with their work in the North American country in 2021 - Afghanistan was second with six such cases.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has repeatedly publicly denounced critical journalists as liars.

In Mexico, there has been a large number of violent crimes for decades - especially in connection with drug-related crime.

Almost 100 murders per day were recently registered, and most of the crimes are never solved.

ime/AFP/dpa