As of: 01/26/2022 6:14 p.m
Mexico has been the most dangerous country in the world for media workers for years. Since the beginning of the year alone, three journalists have been murdered – including a television reporter who had asked the government for protection.
Lourdes Maldonado, television reporter, Margarito Martínez, photojournalist, José Luis Gamboa, director of an online news site – these are the names of the three journalists who were murdered in the first month of the new year alone, two of them within a week in Tijuana, in the city in the far north of Mexico on the border with the USA.
“The reasons why there is such massive aggression against journalists in such a short time are unclear,” says Leopoldo Maldonado, regional director of the “Article 19” organization, which campaigns for freedom of the press and freedom of expression. “In general, it’s the decay of the state that can be observed in many regions, the war between criminal gangs, the entanglement of organized crime with local governments.”
Lourdes Maldonado was driving home in her red car when she was pointed out by a passing car in Tijuana. Neighbors heard the shots around 6:20 p.m. A bullet hit her fatally. The engine was still running when the journalist was found, local media reports. There had already been an attack on her before, reports Leopoldo Maldonado: “At the time, she had parked her car to run errands and when she came back, she discovered bullet holes.”
Murder after corruption reports
Lourdes Maldonado reported on corruption and local politics. Just days ago, the reporter won a nine-year court battle against former state governor Jaime Bonilla. Bonilla was the founder of a news channel for which Maldonado had worked at times.
As early as 2019, she had asked for help at the morning press conference held by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador: “I fear for my life. This is about a powerful man from politics, from her party,” she said at the time, naming it also Bonilla’s name.
People call for “Justice for Lourdes and Margarito”, two murdered journalists, on a poster in Tijuana.
Image: dpa
Investigations bog down too often
“Article 19” demands that a transparent investigation be carried out into whether there are possible connections. The journalist Maldonado was part of a government protection program. But these programs are hopelessly underfunded, and there are not enough staff, says the director of the regional program – adding: Every protection program is “pointless” if there aren’t serious investigations into the acts of violence against journalists at the same time. “In most cases there was already aggression against the journalists, as in the case of Lourdes Maldonado, but they are not being prosecuted. The perpetrators remain unpunished. The investigations are not progressing.”
According to Reporters Without Borders, in 2021 Mexico was the most dangerous country for media workers in the world for the third year in a row. In no other country not at war are so many journalists murdered. In the last year alone, seven journalists were killed.
Despite this, the government is not acting, says Maldonado of Article 19. On the contrary: Mexican President López Obrador repeatedly publicly discredits critical journalists and portrays them as liars. “These acts of violence against journalists must be taken seriously,” says Maldonado. “As long as there is no justice, we will not get out of this spiral.”