In less than 24 hours, hooded men murdered a journalist in the Mexican state of Tabasco while in Veracruz, gunmen kidnapped a second reporter. To date, seven journalists have been killed in 2019 with nine total since Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) took office.
The murder took place Tuesday night when Norma Sarabia Garduza was arriving at her home in Huimanguillo. According to the outlet she worked for, Tabasco Hoy, Sarabia was talking to a relative when a team of gunmen wearing masks parked near her house. At least one walked toward the house and began shooting, striking the journalist at least four times.
According to Tabasco Hoy, Sarabia covered crime-related stories and the police beat for more than 15 years.
In 2014, Sarabia said she began receiving threats from the local police chief and assistant chief in Huimanguillo after she reported on a series of kidnappings carried out by local cops–including one case where one of the victims died. According to El Independiente, Sarabia was forced to file a complaint with federal authorities but it remains unclear if anything came of it.
Less than 24 hours after Sarabia’s murder, a group of gunmen in Veracruz kidnapped Marcos Miranda Cogco as he was leaving his home, his relatives posted on Miranda’s news site Noticias a Tiempo.
The two violent crimes drew the condemnation of the Mexican representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists Jan-Albert Hootsen, who documents the ongoing violence.
Sarabia’s murder is the seventh for a Mexican journalist in 2019 and is the ninth of its kind since AMLO took office in December 2018.
Other Murdered Mexican Journalists in 2019
Francisco Romero – a journalist for Ocurrio Aqui and Playa News, was beaten to death outside a bar in Playa Del Carmen on May 16. Prior to his murder, Romero received numerous death threats and requested government protection.
Rafael Urua Manriquez — The general director of Radio Kashana, a community station based in Santa Rosalia, Baja California, which reported on human rights, gender issues, alternative lifestyles, reproductive health, and ecology. He was murdered on January 21.
Jesus Eugenio Ramos Rodriguez—Longtime journalist and host of the radio show “Nuestra Region Hoy” in Emiliano Zapata, Tabasco. Ramos was murdered by a lone gunman while eating breakfast on February 10. His case remains unsolved.
Reynaldo Lopez – A radio journalist from Hermosillo, Sonora. Lopez was in a vehicle with a colleague when a team of gunmen ambushed and fired multiple times on February 16.
Santiago Barroso Alfaro—A print and radio journalist from the border state of Sonora. Barroso was gunned down while opening the door to his home in San Luis Rio Colorado on March 15.
Omar Ivan Camacho – A radio journalist covering local sports and also managed a related website. He was thrown off an overpass after reporting on a baseball game in Sinaloa on March 25.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. 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 Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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