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Violence in Mexico has claimed the life of yet another journalist, this time a Honduran national who had fled to Veracruz because of violence in his home country.
According to authorities, 25-year-old Edwin Rivera Paz was shot dead on Sunday afternoon in the municipality of Acayucan, which lies in the southeastern Olmeca region of the Mexican Gulf state. His body was identified by a relative.
According to the Honduran press, Edwin Rivera had worked as a cameraman for prominent journalist Igor Padilla, who was gunned down in broad daylight in January by four men in police uniforms while working in the municipality of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Padilla had mainly covered crime while also hosting a comedy show for local television station Hable Como Habla, and Rivera had been his cameraman.
Marta Sanchez Soler, an organizer for the non-profit group Mesoamerican Migrant Movement, noted that the killing of Padilla drove Rivera to seek refuge in Mexico.
Speaking to local media, Honduran Consul General Raul Otoniel Morazan called on authorities at all levels of the Mexican Government to get to the bottom of the killing.
Acayucan lies along a route heavily used by Central Americans fleeing violence. Migrants are frequently preyed upon by organized crime groups in Veracruz, which is one of the most violent states in Mexico.
“This is not a single corner of this country where Mexicans can feel safe and live in peace,” the Mexican Council of Bishops said in an editorial published Wednesday.
Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto came to office, in 2012, promising to end years of drug violence. Although the murder rate fell initially, it has been steadily rising and is on track to hit its highest level since recent government records began in 1997.
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