Rash of media murders highlights deadly threats in Mexico
MEXICO CITY — A journalist is shot dead as she pulls out of her garage in the morning with her young son. Gunmen ambush another journalist while he lazes in a car wash hammock. An award-winning reporter is hauled out of his vehicle and gunned down a block from his office.
On Monday, Javier Valdez became the sixth journalist slain in Mexico since early March, a deadly spree unusual even in a country that ranks behind only Syria and Afghanistan for such murders. There’s no evidence directly linking the killings to each other, but collectively they are a grim signal that lawlessness and impunity continue to threaten the lives and work of journalists across much of the country.
The killings come at a time when overall homicides rose 29 per cent in the first three months of the year from the same period in 2016; high-stakes state elections and a presidential vote next year have been bitterly contested; corruption scandals are regular news; and a decade-old militarized offensive against brutal drug cartels shows no sign of being won.
“Mexico has become more dangerous in general over the past year, and that is affecting the way there is more fighting,” Mexican security analyst Alejandro Hope said. “Tensions are running really high in the underworld, so I think that people that are covering this are getting themselves into much riskier situations.”