Mexican Journalist Murdered in Acapulco —17th in 2018

A Mexican journalist in Acapulco, Guerrero, died in a hail of gunfire after a team of shooters chased him down. He was the 17th killed this year.

This week, Gabriel Soriano Kuri, a radio journalist with Radio y Television de Guerrero, was riding in a company truck after covering a public event hosted by  state officials when a team of gunmen chased him and a colleague. Paramedics rushed to the scene but the journalist there shortly after. Law enforcement revealed the victim was struck twice by 9mm bullets while his colleagues were spared.

Ironically, at the public event, Guerrero Governor Hector Astudillo Flores praised his state’s “improvements” in public safety.

Despite government rhetoric, Guerrero continues to see record-setting levels of violence as rival cartels fight for control of the region’s drug production and distribution routes. Acapulco was previously considered a bustling tourist destination. However, the unending cartel violence significantly international tourism.

Soriano’s murder comes less than a month after a team of gunmen shot and killed Sergio Martinez Gonzalez in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Martinez ran the online news outlet Enfoque and reported on threats received prior to his death.

Other Journalists Murdered in 2018

September 28 — Arturo Porcallo Eguiluz, a radio journalist an DJ in Guerrero for Radio y Television de Guerrero (RTG). A motive for his murder has not been released.

September 21—Mario Leonel Gomez Sanchez, a political journalist for El Heraldo de Chiapas. He had been the target of threats in 2016 after reporting on embezzlement by public officials in the state.

August 29 — Javier Rodriguez Valladares was a cameraman and TV journalist for Canal 10 in Cancun, Quintana Roo. He was shot along one of the main avenues in the tourist hotspot.

August 8 — Rodolfo Garcia Gonzalez was a freelance photographer who often worked with Semanario7. He was shot and killed in Guanajuato.

July 24 — Ruben Pat Cauich was a veteran journalist who founded the online outlet La Playa News in Quintana Roo, not far from Cancun. He had been previously threatened and was ultimately killed at a bar in the tourist hotspot of Playa Del Carmen.

July 3 — José Guadalupe Chan Dzib was a crime reporter for La Playa News, Aqui y Ahora, and other local outlets near Cancun, Quintana Roo. He was gunned down outside of a local bar in Playa Del Carmen.

May 29 — Hector Gonzales Antonio was a national correspondent for Excelsior and worked in various local outlets. He was kidnapped, tortured, and dumped in a vacant lot.

May 24 — Alicia Diaz Gonzalez, a financial writer for one of Mexico’s largest publications, was found beaten to death in her home in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.

May 14 — Juan Carlos Huerta Martínez, a reporter and broadcast host, was killed by a team of gunmen outside his home in Tabasco.

March 21 — Leobardo Vázquez Atzin ran the online news site Enlace Informativo Regional in Veracruz who reported on a local mayor tied to an illicit property grab and was killed by a team of gunmen.

February 14 — Pedro Damián Gómez Bonifaz, director-owner of the Panorama Político, was found dead with obvious signs of trauma caused by a sharp-edged weapon at his home in Tijuana, Baja California.

February 5 — Leslie Ann Pamela Montenegro del Real, a popular YouTube satirist and blogger who used the pseudonym “La Nana Pelucas,” was gunned down while eating dinner at a restaurant in Acapulco.

January 21 — Agustín Silva Vásquez, a freelance police reporter from El Sol del Istmo, disappeared in Matías Romero, Oaxaca, according to his family members who reported his kidnapping. Silva Vásquez is presumed dead.

January 13 — Carlos Dominguez Rodriguez was ambushed and killed by a team of assassins in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, who stabbed him to death in front of his family. Authorities arrested a relative of the former mayor of Nuevo Laredo and several other individuals allegedly linked to the case.

January 6 — José Gerardo Martínez Arriaga, an editor with El Universal, was purchasing toys for his family in Mexico City when he was robbed and killed at gunpoint.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon.  You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.