A journalist who ran a local news portal and an entertainment reporter were shot to death in separate events in less than 24 hours in western Mexico.
Independent reporter Patricia Ramírez González was shot on Wednesday afternoon in a food store she owned in the western city of Colima, capital of the state of the same name.
The State Prosecutor’s Office indicated that police officers found the woman with serious injuries and she later died at the scene.
According to local media, Ramírez González, who was known as Paty Bunbury, had a blog in which she published entertainment news and collaborated with a newspaper in Colima.
On the other hand, in the western town of Uruapan, state of Michoacán, Mauricio Solís, director of the Minuto por Minuto portal, which covers community and violence news, was murdered on Tuesday night.
Solís was shot in the middle of the street shortly after making a live broadcast on social networks and interviewing the mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo, about a fire that destroyed several commercial premises.
Manzo told the press on Wednesday that two armed people intercepted Solís in the center of Uruapan and, after shooting him several times, fled in a red truck.
The Michoacán Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the murder of Solís and indicated in a message from his account on the social network X that one person was injured in the attack, but did not offer details.
“We are no longer waiting for tomorrow,” said local journalist Lucero Díaz Estrada, referring to the risky conditions in which press workers operate in Michoacán, due to the violence that prevails in that region. “We have to have a little resilience to get through this. “We cannot allow ourselves to be overcome by fear, nor can we stop reporting.”
Díaz Estrada also complained about Manzo’s recurring criticism of the press, and pointed out that his questions have put journalists in that area at risk.
Michoacán is one of the most violent states in Mexico. Various cartels and criminal groups fight each other for control of their territory.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the murders of Ramírez González and Solís in a message on its X account on Wednesday, and urged authorities to open an “immediate and credible” investigation.
Mexico is considered one of the countries with the highest risk for the practice of journalism, although in 2023 the homicides of journalists were reduced. In 2022, 13 communicators died, according to CPJ figures. Most cases remain unpunished.
The Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN-DH) condemned the murder of Solís on Wednesday and called on the authorities to carry out a “prompt and effective” investigation into the case.
“It is important to work on strategies to prevent attacks against the press,” Jesús Peña, deputy representative in Mexico of the UN-DH, said in a statement. The case of Solís is a “strong reminder of the need to continue strengthening protection bodies and the institutional response capacity.”
Two months ago, reporter Alejandro Martínez was shot to death in the central city of Celaya, state of Guanajuato, in an armed attack in which two of his bodyguards were injured. Martínez, who operated a local news portal, had been assigned police protection after he reported receiving threats.
In the middle of the year, Víctor Culebro, editor of a news portal, was found dead in the southern state of Chiapas. The body of Culebro, 39, was found with his hands tied and his face covered with duct tape.
In April, Roberto Figueroa, who ran a local online media, was shot. His body was found inside a vehicle in the municipality of Huitzilac, in the central state of Morelos.
On the other hand, the prosecutor’s office in the northern state of Sonora reported on Tuesday that it arrested one of the people who allegedly participated in the murder of American Nicholas Douglas Quets García, which occurred on October 18 on the Altar-Pitiquito highway section. The detainee belonged to a criminal group that operates in the north of the country.
In another operation, security forces killed two people in an armed confrontation in Sonora who were traveling in a vehicle, which would have been used in the murder of the American. One of the dead was identified as Edwards Dixon “N”, who was of Honduran origin and had an arrest warrant for the crime of desertion to the detriment of the Honduran Presidential Honor Guard.
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