A Mexican journalist covering drug trafficking has been killed, authorities told AFP on Monday, the country’s latest fatality. dangerous for journalists.
The reporter, Miguel Angel Beltran, previously worked in the media writing and was now covering crime-related issues on social media, according to local reports.
Beltran’s body was found on Saturday in a stretch of highway that connects the northwestern state of Durango with Mazatlan, the resort center of the neighboring state. Sinaloathe local press reported. 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”.
His death was confirmed to AFP by the Durango State Prosecutor’s Office.
Beltran’s TikTok accounts, under the handle Capo, and on Facebook, on the La Gazzetta Durango page, reported AFP.
In one of his last messages, on October 22, Beltran announced the arrest of Cabrera Sarabia, the leader of a criminal group that operates in Durango and is a rival of the powerful Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartels.
Mexico is considered the most dangerous countries for journalistsMore than 150 media workers killed since 1994, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Beltran and other murdered journalists worked in areas where drug cartels were active, and published their work in local media or social networks, generally under precarious working conditions.
Media workers are regularly beaten in Mexico, often in direct retaliation for their work covering issues such as corruption and the country’s violent drug traffickers.
In 2024, a record number of journalists were killed worldwide, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists he said in a report released earlier this year, including five in Mexico.
Mexico had its deadliest year for journalists 2022With 13 murders, according to CPJ and Articulo 19, an organization that promotes press freedom in Mexico. Since 2000, Article 19 has documented 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 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.