Journalist Armando Linares, director of the Monitor Michoacan news site, was murdered on Tuesday in Mexico, bringing the number of journalists killed in this country to eight in 2022. The state prosecutor of Michoacan, a region marked by years of drug cartel violence, the journalist said in a statement that he lost his life in the afternoon at his home. His body bore bullet holes.
“The nightmare continues for the press in Mexico”
This assassination comes barely a month and a half after that of Roberto Toledo, a contributor to the same media. After this murder, on January 31, Armando Linares had denounced threats against him and against his team for having revealed facts of corruption. “We are not armed, we do not carry weapons. Our only defense is our pen, a pencil,” he said in a video released after the death of Roberto Toledo.
Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press, according to figures from the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF). “The nightmare continues for the press in Mexico. RSF documents the facts and demands an exemplary investigation by the Michoacan prosecutor’s office,” RSF tweeted.
A territory in the hands of the cartels
Michoacan, a state in western Mexico where Armando Linares was assassinated, is plagued by violence. The powerful Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG) operates there and other organizations such as Los Viagras, which compete for this strategic territory to transport drugs to the Pacific coast.
In 2021, Michoacan recorded 2,732 murders, just over 8% of the 33,315 premeditated homicides committed in all of Mexico. Jorge Luis Camero, one of the last journalists murdered on February 24, had just resigned in Empalme, in the state of Sonora (north).
The president regularly criticizes the press
In early March, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Mexican authorities to “ensure the protection and creation of a safe environment for journalists and human rights defenders”. In response, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador accused him of supporting “a coup strategy” which he attributes to his opponents.
The head of state regularly criticizes his country’s press sector, accusing it of serving private interests. Some 150 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, according to RSF.
Source: 20minutes
