Mexico: Journalist-businessman is murdered along with 3 other people

A journalist who also had business activities was murdered along with three other persons in Mexico, in a state that is among those most affected by the wave of violence by organized crime gangs, the authorities and press freedom NGOs announced yesterday.

Ernesto Mendes, director of the Tu Voz news website, was killed in a bar, along with three other people, by unknown gunfire in San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato state, the same sources said. Another victim survived, seriously injured, according to the city’s mayor, Luis Gerardo Sanchez.

“A group of armed men stormed a bar owned by the Mendes family,” non-governmental organization Article 19 said.

Ernesto Mendes had received threats against his life, the NGO added, according to which 13 journalists have been murdered in the country since the beginning of the year.

The Mexican government has counted 10 journalist murders since the start of the year, as it says two victims were not working when they were killed. About 20 suspects have been arrested in connection with their murders, according to the same source.

The Mexican branch of Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) asked authorities not to rule out any scenario, including the possibility that Ernesto Mendes’ killing was due to the victim’s journalistic work.

A prosperous industrial state, Guanajuato is one of the regions most affected by the wave of violence caused by the conflict between two rival drug cartels, the Santa Rosa de Lima and the New Generation of Jalisco.

At least 150 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000. In most cases, the perpetrators went unpunished. The victims were mainly murdered in the states most affected by gang cartel violence (Sinaloa, Jalisco…).

RES-EMP

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