The recent killings of four journalists in Mexico cause concern for those who question and write about violence and corruption in Mexico. And we must all strongly condemn the recent killings of journalists José Luis Gamboa Arenas, Margarito Martínez Esquivel, Lourdes Maldonado López and Roberto Toledo over the past month.
At least 27 journalists were killed due to their work in 2021, with India and Mexico topping the list of countries with the most media worker deaths, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists’ final data for the year. Of the total – which has risen by three since the publication of CPJ’s December 9 report on attacks on the press – 21 were singled out for murder in retaliation for their reporting. Four more were killed while reporting from conflict zones, and two others were killed covering protests or street clashes that turned deadly. Six of these murders were of Mexican journalists.
Still from a Democracy Now! video, democracynow.org
As of late January there are at least four journalists who have been killed in Mexico this year, and two of them, Margaritio and Lourdes, have been in Tijuana. Margarito was very well known and respected in Tijuana and his death was a shock to many.
Mexico President Andrés Manuel Obrador called for a full investigation and cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the motive for the murder of Lourdes Maldonado López, a Tijuana journalist who once sought his help.
Maldonado was found fatally shot inside a car, according to a statement from the Baja California state prosecutor’s office. Authorities received a 911 call around 7 p.m. and found Maldonado dead.
In 2019, Maldonado went to López Obrador’s daily morning news conference and asked for his help “because I fear for my life.”
Lourdes Maldonado had been locked in a years-long labor dispute with Jaime Bonilla, who was elected governor of Baja California later that year as a candidate from López Obrador’s Morena party. He left office late last year.
Maldonado had recently announced that she won her dispute with a media company Bonilla owned after nine years of litigation.
Maldonado had covered corruption and politics in Tijuana and faced aggression previously because of her work. She was enrolled in the state’s protection system for journalists who have been threatened, but the group did not detail the security measures.
Another Tijuana journalist, photographer Margarito Martínez, was gunned down outside his home on Jan. 17. He was well known for covering the crime scene in the violence-plagued city. He worked for the local news outlet Cadena Noticias, as well as for other national and international media outlets.
He had received recent threats and a local organization had requested protection for him. Leopoldo Maldonado said Martínez’s colleagues managed to get him “a direct line to the National Guard.” But it didn’t save him.
There was no indication the two killings were connected. Tijuana has been torn by drug violence as rival cartels battle for control of lucrative border smuggling points and the Tijuana street-level drug trade.
Mexico is the Western Hemisphere’s most violent country for journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The main problem is impunity, which has been recognized by members of the administration, including Interior Undersecretary for Human Rights Alejandro Encinas, even though the president has dismissed it as a problem caused by his predecessors.
More than 95% of the murders and disappearances of journalists in Mexico never make it to trial and even less to a sentence. Tracking attacks on journalists, since the current administration began on Dec. 1, 2018, at least 32 journalists have been killed and 15 disappeared.
Many of the crimes have occurred in areas with an organized crime presence and high levels of general violence, like Tijuana, because there a hit can be ordered and carried out without consequences. According to federal government data, in December Baja California had the second most homicides per capita. In 2021, nearly 2,000 people were slain in Tijuana.
Mexico has had a federal “mechanism” for a decade to provide protection to journalists and human rights defenders facing threats. Some 500 journalists and 1,000 rights activists are enrolled. Most states have similar systems.
The measures provided range from panic buttons and surveillance systems installed at their homes to bodyguards. But since collaboration between organized crime and government officials is so common, many remain suspicious of government-backed protection.
In the last five years, 10 journalists with some type of protection have been killed. There have also been hundreds of cases of intimidation, theft of equipment and temporary detention that are never investigated or sometimes even reported.
As long as no one is arrested, tried and convicted for the murder of journalists in Mexico there is no safety net for these courageous individuals who write the truth about a country they love. We must stand with journalists in Mexico and around the world who work to tell the uncomfortable truths about their governments and societies.
Protesting the death of human rights in Mexico 30 years ago
The following is personal story as I confronted the Mexican government of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1990-94 when I protested along with others the killings of journalists and human rights activists outside of the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles.
We all need to denounce these murders of journalists and human rights activists. In the 1990’s when I lived in Los Angeles as Regional Director of Amnesty International I helped to lead demonstrations outside the Mexican consulate demanding justice for those reporters and human rights activists killed and being targeted by the Salinas Gortari government.
Then in the mail came an invitation to a major conference. It seems that Gortari and I were both invited to present at a major conference at Stanford University. President Gortari protested my participation calling me a terrorist and demanded that I not be allowed to attend. This accusation became a long and protracted administrative fight with the university as I fought to make them understand that I was nonviolent. And in the end I won and was re-invited to the conference. Mexican President Gortari and I were only in the same room during the opening banquet and my table was placed far from Gortari’s. I had typed up a letter that I wanted to deliver to Gortari with the names of people his government had recently killed.
I invited a good activist Amnesty woman to attend the dinner with me who ended up dressing and looking like a blond beautiful movie star for the event. Well behind me at the table standing were two of Gortari’s security guards and two university security persons who kept a close eye and even followed me to the bath room. As I approached the urinal when I went to the bathroom I jokingly asked “Hey can one of you boys help me with my zipper. It seems to be stuck.” While they frowned at my suggestion they did not offer to help me and my zipper. I did ask politely in both Spanish and English.
I returned to my table with the four security men in tow, with others watching probably thinking that these four men were there to protect me from danger. As I sat down, I mentioned to my guest as I leaned close to her that I was frustrated that I would not be able to deliver the letter. She thought a minute and softly asked for me to pass the letter to her under the table. Soon our hands had embraced under the dark of the table. Taking the letter she secured it and slipped it in her handbag.
Excusing herself she got up and first took a few steps towards the bathrooms and then turned and made a quick beeline for Gortari’s table. Swishing up to him she wore a broad and warm smile.
She bent over to shake his hand and greeting him as his eyes remained focused on another part of her body.
Soon she was giving him the letter which he received and opened with enthusiasm. Once his eye saw the Amnesty International stationary and my signature on the letter outlining the deaths of journalists and human rights activists, his face soured. My friend thanked him still smiling and quickly returned to my table. Soon our hands were united under the table and celebrating.
After that I was happy and could finally eat my dinner and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
We must always raise our voices in protest and in the process work to protect the lives of those who dare to tell the truth about violence and corruption of their governments and societies.
