Another Journalist Murdered in Mexico

The murder of yet another journalist in Mexico continues to make that country one of the deadliest places for the reporters. Unlike other countries, in Mexico, journalists are often targeted not only by criminal organizations, but also by corrupt government officials.

On Saturday, unknown gunmen shot and killed Manuel Torres in Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico’s Proceso reported. The slain reporter had been in the business for more than 20 years having worked at Mexico’s TV Azteca, Radiover.com as well as the daily newspaper Noreste. According to Reporters Without Borders, Torres covered court cases, police news and cartel violence. He also edited his own news website, Noticiasmt, and worked for the Poza Rica city hall.

Torres is the sixth  journalist to be murdered in Mexico this year.

At the time of the murder, according to a statement from the Veracruz Attorney General’s Office, investigators identified Torres as an employee of a local politician and not as a journalist.

According to a new release from Mexico’s Human Rights Commission (CNDH) sent to Breitbart Texas, members of the organization have begun to take part in the case and have been assisting Torres’ family in dealing with investigative agencies. In their statement, the CNDH asks for the cooperation of the government in clearing up the murder and to evaluate the security conditions of journalists in the area.

Despite the government assurances, Reporters Without Borders, regards Mexico as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.

Referring to Mexico as “the land of drug cartels”, Reporters Without Borders claims that “murders of journalists are typically carried out in cold blood, like executions, and almost always go unpunished. This impunity accounts for the widespread corruption. Some elected officials are directly linked to organized crime. Ownership of the broadcast media is extremely concentrated, with two media groups owning almost all the TV stations.”

Just last month, as Breitbart Texas previously reported, a team of cartel gunmen murdered 55-year-old Francisco Pacheco Beltran, in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Pacheco Beltran had spent the previous night documenting a brutal cartel gun battle that had paralyzed the beach resort city of Acapulco Guerrero.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.