A lone gunman approached a Mexican journalist in the southern state of Tabasco and shot him eight times before making a clean getaway. The crime is the second murder of a journalist in Mexico in 2019 and the fourth under the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO).
The gunman killed Jesus Eugenio “Chuchin” Ramos Rodriguez, a journalist and radio personality as he was having breakfast at a restaurant in the municipality of Emiliano Zapata, information released by Tabasco’s Attorney General’s Office revealed.
The gunman approached as the journalist ate breakfast with another individual. He fired multiple times hitting Ramos eight times, SinEmbargo.Mx reported. Private citizens tried to rush Ramos to a local hospital but he eventually died from the injuries sustained. Local journalists and authorities have not revealed if Ramos received previous threats. Ramos worked at the same radio station for more than 20 years and was the host of a local radio show.
Just hours after the murder, Jesus Ramirez Cuevas, the head of the press department for AMLO, took to social media to condemn the murder stating that the Mexican government would be working to improve security conditions for journalist and human rights activists.
Condenamos el asesinato del periodista y locutor Jesús Ramos en Tabasco. El @GobiernoMX fortalecerá las medidas de protección a personas defensoras de ddhh y periodistas. La libertad de expresión es un derecho y elemento fundamental para la democracia, la justicia y la libertad. pic.twitter.com/Q7KMzQo7qp
— Jesús Ramírez Cuevas (@JesusRCuevas) February 9, 2019
Ramos’ murder comes less than three weeks after the murder of another radio journalists in the state of Baja California. As Breitbart News reported, 34-year-old Rafael Murua Manriquez died from multiple apparent stab wounds after having been reported missing. Murua worked the general director of Radio Kashana, a community station based in Santa Rosalia, which reported on human rights, gender issues, alternative lifestyles, reproductive health, and ecology.
Two other journalists have been killed in Mexico since AMLO took office in December. As Breitbart News reported, in early December, 35-year-old Diego Garcia Corona from Semanario Morelos was gunned down on his way home from work in Mexico State. That murder came just three days after the murder of Jesus Alejandro Marquez, the founder and leader of Orion Informativo in the state of Nayarit.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.