MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -A Mexican journalist was shot and killed in the southern state of Oaxaca on Thursday, police mentioned, the latest in a string of journalist deaths which have prompted U.S. lawmakers to strain Mexico to step up protections.
Heber Lopez, an impartial journalist who ran NoticiasInternet, was shot and killed, police officers instructed Mexican information outlet Milenio. Lopez was attacked at his recording studio, outlet RCP Noticias mentioned on social media.
The legal professional normal for Oaxaca mentioned two folks had been arrested in relation with the crime, although the investigation was nonetheless ongoing.
Lopez, who labored in the port metropolis of Salina Cruz, had obtained dying threats in 2019, in line with some native media reviews.
The journalist commonly wrote about politics and corruption in native authorities, Rodolfo Canseco, the director of RCP Noticias, instructed Reuters.
His dying is the latest in a spate of assaults in opposition to journalists in Mexico in current weeks. Three journalists and one media employee had been killed in the month of January alone, and a former journalist was killed on Saturday night.
United States Senators Tim Kaine and Marco Rubio urged Mexico on Tuesday https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-lawmakers-take-mexican-president-task-over-need-protect-journalists-2022-02-09 to do extra to guard journalists, criticizing Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for lashing out in opposition to his critics in the media.
According to human rights group Article 19, round 145 journalists had been killed in Mexico from 2000 to 2021, making Mexico one of many deadliest nations in the world for journalists.
Article 19 referred to as on Mexico’s federal program to guard journalists to “contact (Lopez’s) members of the family, colleagues and pals as quickly as attainable, in order to supply the mandatory safety measures,” the group wrote on Twitter.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry and Noe Torres; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
