Antonio de la Cruz became the 12th journalist killed this year in Mexico after he was shot dead near his home in Ciudad Victoria in northeastern Mexico on June 29. IPI is alarmed about the rate of attacks towards the press in the country and calls for the authorities to thoroughly investigate the killings of journalists in order to hold those responsible for crimes against the press to account and end the bloodshed against the media in the country.
A journalist for the local newspaper Expreso, de la Cruz was shot dead near his home in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. According to a report by the newspaper, de la Cruz was shot multiple times by a person on a motorcycle as he was driving in his car in the morning of Wednesday, June 29. De la Cruz died at the scene whilst his daughter, who was also in the car and was shot in the head, .
The Mexican Federal Special Prosecutor鈥檚 Office for Attention to Crimes Committed Against Freedom of Expression has into the killing.
De la Cruz worked for Expreso newspaper covering topics related to environment, food, and agriculture among others. His colleague Carlos Manuel Ju谩rez told that de la Cruz was also active and outspoken about politics on Twitter to the point that officials had asked him to take down some critical tweets.
Expreso has been targeted previously as well. Most notably, in , a severed human head was left in a cooler outside the newspaper鈥檚 office alongside a message threatening local journalists. Furthermore, , a car bomb exploded close to the newspaper鈥檚 office.
The horrendous attack on de la Cruz and his daughter is the latest in an unprecedented series of journalist killings in the country this year.
鈥淚PI vehemently condemns the brutal killings of Antonio de la Cruz and his daughter. Twelve journalists have now been murdered in Mexico this year alone 鈥� a reflection of Mexico鈥檚 utter failure to bring violence against the press under control and stop impunity鈥�, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen said.
2022 has so far been one of the bloodiest years for the media in Mexico. The country tops the war zone of Ukraine when it comes to the most killings of journalists this year. Last year, Mexico had the highest number of murdered journalists worldwide with seven killed journalists, according to IPI鈥檚 data.听
Griffen added: 鈥淲e cannot become numb to this deadly cycle of violence. The Mexican federal and state authorities must finally act to end violence against the press and provide the country鈥檚 journalists with effective protection from further attacks.鈥�
Vast majority of crimes against press go unpunished
Mexico is the world鈥檚 deadliest country for the media, according to IPI鈥檚 Death Watch with the state of due to criminal gangs and drug trafficking.听
Journalists in Mexico are targeted at an alarming rate and the vast majority of these crimes go unpunished. Current president Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador, who has been in power since 2018, is yet to take the necessary steps to stop the deadly violence against the press. Instead, the president often .听
Since President Obrador took office, . In February the president promised over the killings of journalists in Mexico. However, a month later, in March, Obrador angrily rejected a passed by the European Parliament condemning the recent spate of violence against the press in Mexico and criticising Obrador鈥檚 use of rhetoric 鈥渢o denigrate and intimidate independent journalists, media owners and activists鈥�.