The first six weeks of 2022 have been the deadliest for journalists in Mexico since 2012. Five journalists have been murdered since the start of 2022, two journalists have survived attacks, and many other journalists have received death threats.
Historically, Mexico has ranked among the most deadly countries for journalists. According to Human Rights Organization Article 19, 145 journalists were killed in Mexico between 2000 and 2021. In all of 2021 only seven journalists were killed, making the first few months of 2022 an increasingly dangerous time for journalists.
Heber Lopez was the fifth journalist victim. He was murdered on Thursday, February 10 in his office in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca. Lopez was an independent journalist who covered crime and police news and ran NoticiasWeb. Rodolfo Canseco Gutierrez – a friend of Lopez and a key witness – said that on Thursday night, a vehicle carrying two men pulled up to Lopez’s office. Then, according to Canseco Gutierrez, one man got out, went into the office, and shot Lopez. Canseco Gutierrez told news sources that Lopez never mentioned any death threats, however, Canseco Gutierrez is confident that Lopez’s murder was related to his line of work.
Prior to the shooting of Lopez, four other journalists’ lives were taken. The first journalist murdered in 2022 was Jose Luis Gamboa Arenas, the director of the news website Inforegio in Veracruz. Gamboa Arenas was fatally stabbed in early January. Then a few weeks later, freelance photographer Margarito Martinez was shot by gunmen in Tijuana. A couple of days after Martinez’s death, reporter Lourdes Maldonado Lopez was also fatally shot in Tijuana. On Wednesday, February 9, three men were arrested in connection with Lopez’s killing. Lastly, on January 31, videographer Robert Toledo was fatally shot in Michoacan state while he was preparing for an interview.
Three of the journalist victims killed this year were enrolled in or in contact with a $23 million-a-year federal program that works to protect journalists and rights defenders. Following Lopez’s murder, an Article 19 group called for Mexico’s program to “contact [Lopez’s] family members, colleagues and friends as soon as possible, in order to provide the necessary protection measures.” Even before the fifth killing, United States Senators Tim Kaine and Marco Rubio spoke out about the crisis in Mexico. Both senators urged Mexico to work harder to protect journalists and criticized Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for lashing out at his critics in the media.
Many Mexicans are currently asking the question: What has to happen in Mexico in order for journalists to be able to operate safely and freely? In response to this, President Lopez Obrador has frequently shifted the blame onto the neoliberal legacy he inherited at the beginning of his presidency. President Lopez Obrador said, “We are coming out of this period of decay and violence. Corruption, inequality and violence – this is what they left us.”
Heber Lopez
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
