A 69-year-old journalist and former local official, Marco Aurelio Ramirez, was shot dead Tuesday in Mexico's central Puebla region, local authorities said. Marco Aurelio Ramirez was killed in broad daylight as he left his home in the town of Tehuacan. He had worked for decades in several media outlets. He was a local civil servant and a contributor to a radio programme.
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An investigation has been opened, the prosecutor's office said. The Mexican branch of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported that Marco Aurelio Ramirez, in his capacity as a civil servant, had contributed to the arrest of suspected criminals. "RSF calls for a swift and transparent investigation," the NGO for the defence of journalists added, to determine "whether the killing is linked to his work as a municipal official or his journalistic practice." More than 150 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, according to RSF. Impunity prevails most of the time.
