Last week, two Mexican journalists were shot dead in less than 24 hours in western states, according to authorities, as the country faces a flare-up of violence in the region. These are the two first journalists murdered so far during the Sheinbaum’s administration.
A Mexican journalist was shot dead in the western state of Colima on Wednesday afternoon, the state persecutor’s office told Reuters.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based rights group, Patricia Ramirez, also known by her nickname Paty Bunbury, worked as an entertainment reporter.
It was the second journalist shot dead in less than 24 hours in Mexico, ranked as one of the deadliest countries for journalists by press freedom groups after the head of an online news outlet in Mexico was killed late on Tuesday, October 29th.
The killings marked the first of a journalist under President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office at the beginning of this month and has pledged to combat violence and crime.
Mauricio Cruz was shot dead in the city of Uruapan, in the violence-plagued western state of Michoacan, according to the state prosecutor’s office. Another person, who the prosecutor did not identify, was wounded in the shooting.
Uruapan is known for brazen crimes such as beheadings stemming from fighting between drug cartels or face-offs with law enforcement.
Cruz’s news outlet, MinutoXMinuto Michoacan, posted a tribute to the journalist on its Facebook page featuring his last live video recorded minutes before his death.
While a wave of violence has rocked the nation, Sheinbaum has followed the work of her predecessor and mentor, former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, stating that her government would not wage a new war on Mexico’s drug cartels.
Source: Reuters
