As Mexico grapples with a wave of violence against members of the press, small local shops are especially at risk.
Three people, including a prominent local journalist, were shot dead inside a bar in central Mexico, marking the 13th murder of a media worker this year. Violence against Mexican journalists escalates.
Guanajuato Governor Diego Rodriguez Vallejo condemned the killing of Ernesto Mendez, the manager of local store Tu Voz, or Your Voice, on Tuesday night, after a group of gunmen stormed a bar Mendez also owns in the town. town of San Luis de la Paz.
Mendez also worked at the Zona Franca news site a few years ago, according to director Carmen Martinez.
The journalist had previously received threats, according to Article 19 of the human rights organization.
“Not only the owner of the establishment was killed, but sadly others too,” said Luis Gerardo Sanchez, the town’s mayor at a news conference on Wednesday.
The attack also left one person seriously injured. The other victims were not named.
It is not known if Mendez was enrolled in the Mexican government protection program for journalists and human rights defenders, AP news agency reported.
Journalists associated with small news organizations in Mexican furniture have become easy targets, and small-town officials and politicians are often suspects, along with organized crime.
Mendez’s murder took place about a month after the age of 47 Antonio de la Cruza reporter for the regional newspaper Expreso, was shot dead outside his home in Ciudad Victoria, northeastern Mexico.
De la Cruz is the 12th Mexican journalist to be killed since the beginning of the year, done in 2022 deadliest year on record for Mexican reporters.
Two Mexican journalistsYessenia Mollinedo and Sheila Johana Garcia, were murdered in the state of Veracruz in May, and more than 150 journalists have been killed since 2000.
Amid a spate of violent attacks, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been criticized for not doing enough to protect journalists and for his own warlike relationship with the media.
Reporters Without Borders said That Obrador failed to “implement the reforms necessary to stem the spiral of violence against the press”.
Mexico is the most dangerous country for reporters outside of war zones.
While a government program has been set up to protect journalists, press freedom groups say that is not enough.
