Journalist Heber López was murdered in Oaxaca; He is the fifth journalist killed in 2022.
(OAXACA Mexico – AP) – Journalist Heber López was shot and killed in southern Mexico, becoming the fifth journalist to be murdered in the country in 2022. If there is one thing the Lopez Obrador government has demonstrated, it is their absolute loathing for the press. This reflects in the escalation of violence and the, so far, unpunished murders of journalists in Mexico.
López, who worked for a digital media, was attacked on his way to his vehicle after finishing his work at a recording studio in the municipality of Salina Cruz, in the state of Oaxaca, the Public Security Secretariat of that southern state confirmed to the AP.
In January 2022, the following journalists were murdered in Mexico:
- José Luis Gamboa, director of an Internet portal, was murdered in the state of Veracruz.
- Photo journalist Margarito Martínez and journalist Lourdes Maldonado were murdered in Tijuana.
- Roberto Toledo, a collaborator of the news portal Monitor Michoacán, was killed in Zitácuaro, Michoacán.
The increase in violence against the press has generated protests in Mexico and rejection from local and international humanitarian organizations, governments, and congressmen.
Mexico is the most violent country in the western hemisphere for the practice of journalism, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a press protection activist organization based in New York. According to its data, nine journalists were murdered in the country in 2021.
The difficulty in clarifying the murders of journalists and activists is a severe problem in Mexico. The Undersecretary for Human Rights, Population and Migration of the Ministry of the Interior, Alejandro Encinas, has admitted that impunity in these cases exceeds 90%.
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