Virtual image of journalist Javier Valdez asks for justice 3:43
(CNN Spanish) -
Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists and the exercise of their work.
According to the 2021 edition of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Classification, Mexico is in the 143rd position, out of a total of 180 countries on this list, in terms of freedom of movement. press.
"(Mexico is) one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Life for investigative journalists is hard in this country, corroded by corruption and under the influence of cartels and drug traffickers. Murders, exiles and self-censorship have been become the rule, "says RSF.
And it is the problem of the murder of journalists that reappears.
In less than a week, radio host and correspondent Fredy López Arévalo and photojournalist Alfredo Cardoso were assassinated in the southern states of Chiapas and Guerrero, respectively.
Two journalists murdered in Mexico in less than a week
The murders of López Arévalo (October 28) and Cardoso (October 31) further highlight the violence against journalists in Mexico in 2021. The organization for the defense of freedom of expression Article 19 has documented seven homicides of journalists in the country in so far this year.
advertising
This violence has persisted for many years, as shown in Article 19. Under the last four presidents, from the six-year term of Vicente Fox (which began on December 1, 2000) until the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, there have been registered 142 murders of journalists in Mexico.
López Arévalo's and Cardoso's are murders 141 and 142 in that period, as documented by Article 19.
What have the López Obrador government and the former presidents said about the murders of journalists?
Felipe Calderón, former president of Mexico, spoke in July about the murder of the announcer Abraham Mendoza.
In a message on his official Twitter account, he pointed out that it is necessary to invest more in the country's police forces and not in "gangster consultations", in reference to the upcoming popular consultation on the trial of former presidents.
"Another journalist assassinated ... Rest in Peace Abraham Mendoza and justice be done. To that they should dedicate public money, to strengthening police, prosecutors and courts. Not to Gansito consultations or to baseball stadiums," wrote Calderón, whose government added 48 murders of journalists, the highest figure in the last 20 years, according to Article 19.
(Article 19 has not included the murder of Abraham Mendoza in its account. In July, the organization told CNN that the documentation process for this homicide was still in process and therefore was not included. This Tuesday, November 2, it was again contact Article 19 to find out what happened to Mendoza's case, but no response has yet been received).
Meanwhile, former President Vicente Fox, whose administration recorded the murder of 22 journalists, in accordance with Article 19, has consistently criticized the López Obrador government in relation to this problem.
These criticisms have occurred especially in 2019, already under the presidency of López Obrador, when 10 homicides of journalists were committed, according to Article 19. This figure is the same as that recorded by the organization in 2008 and 2010, years of the Felipe Calderón government .
"LÓPEZ you have earned the record for the most crimes in all its categories: JOURNALISTS, WOMEN, CHILDREN, CIVILIANS, POLICE, MAYORS, POLITICIANS. By when?" Fox wrote in a November 2019 tweet.
On the other hand, the López Obrador government indicated on October 29, after the murder of López Arévalo, that everything would be done to clarify the case.
"The Government of Mexico condemns the murder of journalist Fredy López Arévalo, in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. Our condolences to family and friends. Everything will be done to clarify this case together with the state authorities," Jesús Ramírez commented in a tweet Cuevas, general coordinator of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic.
Regarding the murder of Cardoso, it was the government of Guerrero, through Governor Evelyn Salgado, who condemned the crime and indicated that it requested the State Attorney's Office to promptly follow up on the case.
For his part, former President Enrique Peña Nieto has been absent from the public eye since his term ended on November 30, 2018 and has not commented on the murders of journalists.
Article 19 documented 47 homicides of journalists in his government.
Meanwhile, the problem continues.
Below, you can read the names of the journalists killed from the Fox administration to the López Obrador government.
Assassination of journalistsJournalistsJournalists murdered