11th Mexican Journalist Murdered In 2019

Press freedom organizations in Mexico denounced the murder of yet another journalist who died from at least four stab wounds. The journalist had previously been the target of threats for his reporting on corrupt activities in Central Mexico.

Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) confirmed the murder of Nevith Condez Jaramillo. The journalist was stabbed to death. Authorities recovered the victim’s body on Saturday morning in the town of Tejupilco in the state of Mexico. The murder marks the 11^th of its kind in 2019 and the 13^th of its kind since Mexico’s current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in December 2018. Mexico’s CNDH is reporting that Condez’s murder is the 12^th of 2019.

Condenamos el homicidio del periodista Nevith Condés Jaramillo creador de la página “El Observatorio del Sur”, ocurrido en Tejupilco, #Edomex; y demandamos una investigación diligente y eficaz para dar con los responsables y llevarlos ante la justicia. https://t.co/sCwEOxyL7m pic.twitter.com/ExSKLAbgKt

— CNDH en México (@CNDH) August 25, 2019

According to El Sol De Mexico, Condez had been the target of numerous threats from local law enforcement and had reached out to press freedom groups for help. The journalist had also asked to be placed in a special program to protect journalists that is run by Mexico’s federal government. However, the measure was never completed. The press freedom group Periodistas Desplazados reported that Condez had been the target of numerous threats before his murder.

#AlertaGUARDIAN #Tejupilco #Edomex asesinan al locutor y creador de la página #ObservatorioDelSur de 4 puñaladas, en estas últimas semanas ya había sido atacado y amenazado. #Mexico Información en curso… pic.twitter.com/fYC3WZmweD

— ALERTAS Periodistas Desplazados y Riesgo México (@AlertaPDMX) August 24, 2019

The murder comes just three weeks after three Mexican journalists became murder victims in the span of one week, Breitbart Texas reported. As Breitbart Texas reported, a group of gunmen shot and killed Jorge Celestino Ruiz, a journalist with El Grafico de Xalapa in Veracruz. Ruiz had survived being the target of a 2018 assassination attempt and had been the target of threats before his murder.  Just hours before Ruiz’s murder, another group of gunmen shot and killed a journalist in front of a group of children in the coastal state of Guerrero, Breitbart News reported Edgar Alberto Nava Lopez was the editor and director of the online news outlet La Verdad de Zihuatanejo and also worked as a city official in that municipality. The murder took place as Nava led a group of children through a series of summer activities in the city’s beach. A team of gunmen went up to the journalists and began firing in front of the children. The children were not physically hurt.

Just days before that murder,  authorities in the central Mexican state of Morelos found the body of Rogelio Barragan, 47, a journalist with online outlet Guerrero Al Instante. The victim was bound and tortured before being placed in the trunk of a Volkswagen Jetta, Breitbart News reported.

Other Murdered Mexican Journalists in 2019

• Norma Sarabia Garduza –a journalist for Tabasco Hoy, died after a team of masked gunmen ambushed her outside her home on June 12. She was a crime and police reporter for more than 15 years. Sarabia received various death threats in the past from corrupt law enforcement.
• Francisco Romero – a journalist for Ocurrio Aqui and Playa News, was beaten to death outside a bar in Playa Del Carmen on May 16. Prior to his murder, Romero received numerous death threats and requested government protection.
• 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 was murdered on January 21.
• Jesus Eugenio Ramos Rodriguez— longtime journalist and host of the radio show “Nuestra Region Hoy” in Emiliano Zapata, Tabasco. Ramos was murdered by a lone gunman while eating 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 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.