Third journalist killed in Mexico in less than a week

[Judi Lynn]

Third journalist killed in Mexico in less than a week
August 6, 2019 6:13 PM ET

Mexico City, August 6, 2019—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexico’s federal government to swiftly and concretely address its press freedom crisis after a third journalist was killed in a week in Mexico. Jorge Celestino Ruiz Vázquez, a reporter for the newspaper El Gráfico, was shot dead on August 2 in Actopán, a town in the eastern state of Veracruz.

Ruiz was the third reporter killed in Mexico in the past seven days. On July 30, Rogelio Barragán was found murdered in Morelos state. On August 2, Edgar Alberto Nava was shot dead in Guerrero state. CPJ is investigating to determine if they were killed in retaliation for their work.

Unidentified attackers shot Ruiz in a convenience store that he owned in La Bocanita, a small town in Actopán, at approximately 9:15 p.m, according to police statements given to the Mexico City paper El Universal and other news reports.

“As Mexico’s press mourns the killing of another colleague, the inaction of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s federal government is inexcusable,” said CPJ Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen. “Mexican authorities must do everything in their power to ensure that Jorge Celestino Ruiz Vázquez’s death does not become another murder statistic. This past week must be a catalyst for a comprehensive plan to stamp out impunity.”

More:
https://cpj.org/2019/08/third-journalist-killed-mexico-in-week-impunity.php




Jorge Celestino Ruiz Vázquez

Rest in Peace.







Report from El Universal, in Mexico, in English on this assassination:

https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english/jorge-celestino-ruiz-vazquez-murdered-veracruz

[Judi Lynn]

1. It appears journalists aren't making a fortune working in Mexico.

This man was not the first to be assassinated at his store he had to run, in addition to his job, to keep his family fed, clothed, and sheltered. It was within the year another man, also a journalist, who had to operate a small grocery store attached to his home was mowed down there, also.

It became a tradition in the recent past for journalists to hold a vigil after assassinations of journalists, and to take pictures of the journalist on the cement, along with his/her camera, and other journalists standing by in his memory. So sad that this has become a ritual, and the local governments STILL don't really knock themselves out trying to bring the assassins to justice. Very often, the local politicians, business people, police ARE part of the problem the journalist was investigating.