"There are no consequences": journalists in Mexico fear for their safety 4:21
(CNN Spanish) --
A journalist was murdered Tuesday night in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, central Mexico.
This is the 13th communicator killed in the country so far this year, according to a count by non-governmental organizations such as Article 19, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ, for its acronym in English ) and a CNN follow-up.
Ernesto Méndez, director of the digital media Tu Voz, was killed when an armed commando broke into a bar he owned and attacked him, Article 19 reported. The Guanajuato government reported the death of two other people in the attack.
“With Ernesto, there will be 13 murders of journalists in 2022, and at least 9 related to their work.
Therefore, we demand that the Mexican State act urgently to stop this phenomenon and we join in the pain of Ernesto's family, friends and colleagues," said Article 19, which promotes freedom of expression and keeps a record of attacks on the press since 2000.
How many journalists have been killed in 2022 in Mexico?
Article 19 confirmed to CNN that Méndez had a history of threats, so the organization called the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (Feadle) to attract the case and consider it as one of the lines of investigation. his informative work as a possible motive for the murder.
In a message on Twitter, the governor of Guanajuato, Diego Sinhue Rodríguez, condemned Méndez's crime and said that he has instructed the state government secretary to provide support to the family and to follow up on the case promptly.
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Reporters Without Borders and CPJ also condemned the journalist's murder, expressed their solidarity with the family, and called on the Guanajuato Prosecutor's Office for an immediate investigation.
CNN has tried to contact the Guanajuato State Prosecutor's Office, but so far we have not received a response.
Mexico is considered one of the deadliest countries to practice journalism, according to organizations in defense of press freedom.
With 13 murders so far this year, if this period is taken into account, 2022 would be the deadliest year for journalists according to the records kept by Article 19 since 2000. That exceeds the figure for 2017, when 12 murders of journalists were recorded. communicators throughout the year, according to that organization.
Violence against the press in Mexico has become an issue on the national and international agenda.
The European Parliament has condemned the situation of extreme violence under which journalists work in Mexico without the government acting forcefully.
Until after noon on Wednesday, the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador had not ruled on Méndez's death.
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