Journalist Killings in Mexico Condemned by European Parliament, President Calls Them Corrupt Sheep

The Parliament of the European Union issued a historic condemnation of the escalating trend in the killing of Mexico’s media workers and activists. The parliament called Mexico the most dangerous country for journalists outside of an active warzone and asked for the Mexican government to take better steps to protect them.

In a visceral response, Mexico’s government called the European legislators hypocrites and corrupt sheep.

The harsh response caused much controversy among politicians and pundits in Mexico with some believing that the government website had been hacked or the response had been sent in error.

La verdad que sí. Me parece muy desafortunado. Pensé que era falso. Pero me parece, por decirlo suave, poco diplomático; podría ser enérgico sin ser panfletario. https://t.co/HciMqvXdSN

— Fernández Noroña (@fernandeznorona) March 11, 2022

However, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador doubled down on the response revealing that he and his press secretary personally drafted the letter. The politician said in his morning news conference that his government protects journalists and claims otherwise are based on lies by his political adversaries whom he calls conservatives and neoliberals.

Cómo les cuesta trabajo aceptar a los conservadores y corruptos de aquí y de allá que México ya no es tierra de conquista. Conferencia matutina https://t.co/IbaXzumHcc

— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) March 10, 2022

The issue began on Thursday when the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the rise in violence against journalists and expressing their concern at the rising collusion between “official circles” and drug cartels in relation to the ongoing violence against news workers. In their statement, they point to more than 55 journalists who have been killed between 2015 and 2021. As Breitbart Texas reported, 8 journalists have been killed since the start of the year.

Mediante una resolución aprobada hoy por el Parlamento Europeo, sobre la situación de periodistas y defensorxs de DH en México, se determinó a nuestro país el lugar más peligroso y letal para periodistas fuera de una zona oficial de guerra.

Te contamos los detalles: pic.twitter.com/mQ6ZCbWcv1

— ARTICLE 19 MX-CA (@article19mex) March 10, 2022

In his response, Lopez Obrador said “Enough with the corruption, lies, and hypocrisy,” saying they had acted like sheep by siding with those who oppose his government. The Mexican president said his country was no longer a land of conquered people and that his nation was a pacifist one — not one that sent weapons to other countries like they do.

Comunicado del gobierno de la República al Parlamento Europeo.https://t.co/VNfogiVCX9 pic.twitter.com/IylpebkJGx

— Gobierno de México (@GobiernoMX) March 11, 2022

The letter asked the European Parliament to “evolve” so they can leave behind the interference manias that they disguise as good intentions.

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