Another Journalist Reportedly Murdered in Mexico — The Second This Week and Seventh This Year
For the second time this week, and the seventh time this year, a journalist has been violently murdered in Mexico.
Jorge Camero Zazueta, 28, was reportedly hunted down by gunmen in the city of Empalme, Sonora, on Thursday night. He was shot multiple times inside a gym while he was working out.
El Universal reported:
Armed men on motorcycles arrived around 8:00 p.m. at the ‘Spartan’ gym, located on Las Américas Boulevard and Independencia Street, where the 28-year-old was training.
The director of the Guaymas and Empalme news portal received at least three bullet wounds; when paramedics from the Red Cross arrived, he no longer had vital signs.
…
Police and military personnel rushed to the scene to cordon off the area.
The outlet reported Zazueta was the director of the news portal El Informativo. He had resigned just a week ago from his job as private secretary to Empalme Mayor Luis Fuentes Aguilar.
It is not clear if police have any suspects in the slaying, and no information was released with relation to a potential motive.
Zazueta was murdered just three days after the body of 29-year-old Michelle Perez Tadeo, a reporter, was found wrapped in bedsheets in an area south of Mexico City.
Hace tres días fue reportada como desaparecida, y ayer fue hallada sin vida. Esto es lo que sabemos sobre Michelle Pérez Tadeo https://t.co/xvmF2ubJr8
— El Universal (@El_Universal_Mx) February 23, 2022
Journalists in Mexico have been targeted with an alarming frequency this year, as Zazueta is the seventh member of the media killed. More than 150 reporters have been murdered in the country since the year 2000.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador became defensive earlier this week after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented on the violence against journalists in Mexico earlier this week on social media.
“I join those calling for greater accountability and protections for Mexican journalists,” Blinken tweeted. “My heart goes out to the loved ones of those who gave their lives for the truth.”
López Obrador downplayed the violence, while he also implied Blinken was commenting in “bad faith.”
“What he’s saying is not true. Of course, it’s very unfortunate that there are murders of journalists,” Lopez Obrador said at a press conference, Reuters reported. “In all cases, we’re doing something about it, there is no impunity, these are not state crimes. He is misinformed because otherwise, he would be acting in bad faith.”
