Mexican authorities found the body of a murdered journalist who was apparently beaten to death and dumped outside a bar near Cancun. The scene was just blocks away from another bar where two gunmen shot 12.

On Thursday morning, authorities responded to a call regarding a man laying in the parking lot of a bar called La Gota in Playa Del Carmen, SinEmbargo.Mx reported. The victim was apparently beaten to death and then dumped by the bar. The victim was identified as Francisco Romero, a journalist for Ocurrio Aqui and formerly of Playa News.

The press freedom organization Periodistas Desplazados revealed that Romero was the target of numerous death threats and previously requested government protection.

In June 2018, cartel gunmen shot and killed Jose Guadalupe Chan, another reporter for Playa News. A few weeks after that case, gunmen killed the director and founder of Playa News, Ruben Pat Cahuich. Both crimes remain unsolved.

The bar where authorities discovered Romero’s body is a few blocks away from the scene where two gunmen shot 12 victims at Cerveceria Chapultepec. One victim died. The scene of the mass shooting is 2 miles from the beach. Playa Del Carmen is 40 miles from Cancun and is considered to be another tourist hotspot that, in recent months, has witnessed a dramatic rise in cartel violence.

This marks the sixth slaying of a journalist in Mexico and the eighth since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) took office.

Other Murdered Mexican Journalists in 2019

Rafael Urua Manriquez — The general director of Radio Kashana, a community station based in Santa Rosalia, Baja California, which reported on human rights, gender issues, alternative lifestyles, reproductive health, and ecology. He was murdered on January 21.

Jesus Eugenio Ramos Rodriguez—Longtime journalist and host of the radio show “Nuestra Region Hoy” or “Our Region Today” in Emiliano Zapata, Tabasco. Ramos was murdered by a lone gunman while having breakfast on February 10. His case remains unsolved.

Reynaldo Lopez – A radio journalist from Hermosillo, Sonora. Lopez was in a vehicle with a colleague when a team of gunmen ambushed and fired multiple times on February 16.

Santiago Barroso Alfaro—A print and radio journalist from the border state of Sonora. Barroso was gunned down while opening the door to his home in San Luis Rio Colorado on March 15.

Omar Ivan Camacho – A radio journalist covering local sports and also managed a related website. He was thrown off an overpass after reporting on a baseball game in Sinaloa on March 25.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. 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 Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz, and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.