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News > Latin America

Mexico: 'Cemetery for Journalists' Grows After 2 More Murders

  • View of photos of killed journalists and cameras outside the Veracruz state representation office during a journalists protest in Mexico City on Feb. 11, 2016.

    View of photos of killed journalists and cameras outside the Veracruz state representation office during a journalists protest in Mexico City on Feb. 11, 2016. | Photo: AFP

Published 22 September 2016
Opinion

At least 26 journalists have been killed since President Enrique Peña Nieto took office, including two more last week.

Two more journalists were killed in Mexico last week, adding to a growing number of dead in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

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Aurelio Campos, editor at the daily “El Grafico,” based in the central state of Puebla, and Agustin Pavia, host at the southern Oaxacan community radio station “Tu Un Nuu Savi,” were killed just two days apart in unrelated incidents.

“Mexico is in the process of turning into a cemetery for journalists,” said Emmanuel Colombié, the head of Reporters Without Borders' Latin America desk. “The local and national authorities must urgently overhaul the alert and protection mechanisms for journalists and must give the police and judicial authorities the resources they need to quickly and systematically identify those behind these murders.”

Campos previously reported to local authorities that he had been the victim of intimidation. However, police determined that he was killed by "an angry colleague," who they have not yet identified. He was fatally shot while driving his car on Sept. 14.

Two days later Pavia was also shot dead while driving. Authorities are still investigating the motive for the crime, and no one has been arrested.

WATCH: Aggressions Against Mexican Journalists Spike in 2015

From 2000 to date, at least 99 journalists have been killed in Mexico for possible connection to their work, while at least 26 of them have been killed during the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto, Article 19 reports.

The organization also says that at least 12 journalists have been killed this year and has called Mexico the most dangerous country for journalists.

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