A journalist in Cancun, Mexico, survived a shooting attack after five gunmen attempted to kidnap him. The journalist is frequently targeted and threatened for his reporting. In October, unknown gunmen firebombed a delivery vehicle from the same news outlet he works for.
The attack took place this week in Cancun when Dario Ruben Cruz was exiting the newspaper he writes for, Por Esto. A man approached the journalist and told him he was going to be kidnapped, Por Esto reported. Cruz ran towards his vehicle and government-issued security detail.
Following previous attacks, Cruz had been placed in a government system that provides security measures for journalists and human rights activists. In his case, he had bodyguards who tried to get him out of danger and drive away. However, according to Por Esto, the gunmen blocked their escape and got out of their vehicle pointing weapons and ordering the journalist and his security detail out of the vehicle. The security detail exchanged gunfire with the attackers. As the gunmen fled, Cruz and his security detail ran towards the nearest place with police officers — a state prison in Cancun.
The attack against Cruz comes just months after unknown gunmen torched a delivery vehicle in Cozumel. According to Por Esto, the gunmen left a threatening message at the scene of the firebombing claiming that the attack was for criticism of the work of the Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ 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 Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ 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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