A journalist was shot dead in eastern Mexico on Thursday, a state agency and local media reported, in the latest killing in one of the world’s biggest killing sprees. dangerous countries for the press.
Journalist Carlos Castro reported on the crime for the local news station Codigo Norte Veracruz. according to Mexican media and the State Commission for the Care and Protection of Journalists, an autonomous organization of the provincial government.
The gunmen shot Castro at a restaurant in the city of Poza Rica in the state of Veracruz, according to digital news outlet RECORD. No arrests have been made.
in one statementthe committee called for a thorough investigation into the killing and said those responsible should be reported to the authorities.
Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries for members of the press, with more than 150 journalists murdered since 1994, according to Reporters Without Borders.
in one released report In December, Reporters Without Borders said that by 2025 at least nine journalists would be killed in Mexico, which last year was the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists.
The state of Veracruz, which borders the Gulf of Mexico, has been plagued for years by violence linked to organized crime groups fighting to control drug trafficking routes.
In October, it was the Mexican journalist Miguel Angel Beltran who worked on drug trafficking found dead Along a section of the highway that connects the northwest of Durango with Mazatlan, a resort area in the neighboring state. Sinaloa. The local media have reported the body of the journalist was found wrapped in a blanket, with a message that said: “For spreading false accusations against Durangar”.
Mexico had its deadliest year for journalists 2022With 13 murders, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and Articulo 19, an organization that promotes press freedom in Mexico. Since 2000, Article 19 has documented at least 174 murders and 31 disappearances of journalists in Mexico.
Not all murders and kidnappings of media workers are unsolved.
“Impunity is common in crimes against the press.” The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a 2024 report It’s Mexico.
A Report by CPJ and Amnesty International 2024 showed that Mexico is failing in its efforts to provide state-sanctioned protection to members of the press.