A journalist was shot dead Wednesday in Ciudad Victoria, northern Mexico, the daily reported. Espresso for which he worked, which brings to 12 the number of reporters killed since the beginning of the year in the country. “This morning, journalist Antonio de la Cruz, reporter for the newspaper Espresso, was murdered. The first elements indicate that he was attacked at his home,” the newspaper said on its webpage.
Wife shot in the head
According to local deputy Gustavo Cardenas, a relative of the journalist speaking to the Milenio television channel, Antonio de la Cruz’s wife was shot in the head. Antonio de la Cruz covered topics related to the climate, and denounced on his Twitter account in recent days the alleged corruption of a former mayor of Ciudad Victoria.
“Faced with this new manifestation of violence, the editorial group Expreso-La Razon demands that the authorities do justice,” added the newspaper. Colleagues of the murdered journalist said they did not know if he had received threats. He had published an article on Tuesday on the high temperatures recorded in the state of Tamaulipas, bordering Texas, affirming that “Ciudad Victoria was Tuesday the third hottest city in Mexico”.
Reporter Without Borders will “document the facts”
The NGO Reporter Without Borders said it was “documenting the facts”. A total of 12 journalists have been killed in Mexico since the beginning of the year, according to a count by organizations defending freedom of expression.
Prior to this murder, the federal government recognized only nine murders, for which 26 people were arrested. Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, especially in states that are victims of drug trafficking and the corruption of political leaders.