Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries to be a journalist in the world, apart from the territories at war.
Article 19, an organization in defense of the rights of journalists, recorded 561 attacks against communicators during 2023, that is, on average, every 16 hours in Mexico a journalist or media outlet was attacked in the exercise of their work.
This figure includes the disappearance of reporter Juan Carlos Hinojosa Viveros in Nanchital, Veracruz, whose whereabouts are still unknown, and the murder of five other journalists: Ismael Villagómez, in Chihuahua;
Jesús Gutiérrez, from Sonora;
Nelson Matus, in Guerrero;
Luis Martín Sánchez, from Nayarit and Marco Aurelio Ramírez, murdered in Puebla.
Despite the fact that in 2023 the murders of journalists were reduced compared to 2022 - the bloodiest year for the press in Mexico since there are records - the attacks against informants have not stopped.
Article 19 documented a decrease of 19.40% compared to last year.
However, the organization questions whether this reduction has to do with fewer attacks being reported out of fear, given the widespread violence in the country.
However, if the fifth year of government of the current Administration is compared with the same year of the previous ones, the levels of violence against reporters continue to be alarming.
Comparing the fifth year of the Government of Andrés Manuel, with the corresponding year of Felipe Calderón, 2011, where 172 attacks were documented, there is an increase of 226.16% compared to 2023. This increase is 31.4% if compared to the fifth year of Enrique Peña Nieto's six-year term, 2017, when the organization documented 507 attacks.
“On the one hand, it is possible that government changes in recent years, and the creation of more institutions and mechanisms for protection and care for victims, have reduced reports of violence to non-state actors,” the organization adds.
Attacks on informants range from direct violence, intimidation, threats by local authorities, harassment on social networks to judicial harassment.
After intimidation, the illegitimate use of public power is positioned as the second most common type of aggression, which shows that much of the coercion of the press comes from officials and politicians.
The case of the Government of Veracruz stands out, especially the attacks against women journalists by Governor Cuitláhuac Jiménez.
“In interviews and public conferences, the governor reviled them, accused them that his objective was to misinform, and has refused to answer questions, among other acts.
The above, with sexist and sexist connotations that differentially violate the communicators of Veracruz," they highlight.
On the list of attacks are those committed by the police and security guards hired by officials.
In addition, police forces were responsible for at least 15 injuries to journalists and 10 arbitrary arrests.
“State authorities are the level of government with the most attacks against the press with 126 documented cases, 43.90% of the attacks by the Mexican State,” the report states.
For its part, the Federal Government maintained its role as the second level of most attacks this year, with 91 cases.
Thirdly, the threat category accumulated 100 cases.
Although 38 cases of threats occurred online, the vast majority occur during coverage, or in the journalists' own homes.
A case that exemplifies this violence occurred on January 9, when Samuel Roa Botello, director of the information portal
Emsa Valles
, received a cooler with two pig heads and sugar cane outside his home in Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí.
These events occurred after the information portal published a series of reports about the control of criminal groups in the sugarcane sector in Huasteca Potosina.
The report delves into the fact that organized crime groups are responsible for three out of every 10 threats to the press in the country.
“Likewise, Article 19 is concerned that there were 14 cases of physical attacks on both journalists and their material property, and at least four deprivations of liberty where the involvement of organized crime could be explicitly documented,” they add. and they point out that in the five murders documented this year, organized crime had a direct or indirect link with the deaths.
“This highlights that, although they are a smaller percentage from a quantitative perspective, the violence of organized crime represents a serious risk for the press,” they highlight.
Judicial harassment, for its part, has been a practice of attacking the press that has been increasing since 2016. In 2023, 22 judicial proceedings were initiated against journalists in the administrative, civil, electoral and even criminal spheres. the equivalent of each month on average 1.8 judicial proceedings were initiated against journalists for the investigations they carry out.
Violence against the press continues to be a constant throughout the national territory, 29 of the 32 states documented attacks against the press last year.
The five states of the republic with the most attacks were Mexico City, with 115 attacks, Guerrero with 48, Puebla with 39 cases, Guanajuato with 38 cases, and Veracruz with 36.
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