The United States announced at its Mexican embassy that it will donate $5 million to improve the safety of journalists in the country over the next four years, reported CNN Mexico on Jan. 11.
U.S. Ambassador Anthony Wayne explained that the financial support is part of an agreement between the Mexican authorities and the organization Freedom House, according to the agency Proceso.
The ambassador said that the U.S. government has worked with Mexican organizations in the past to improve the safety of vulnerable journalists. He also announced a major collaboration between the Ministry of the Interior and the National Commission of Human Rights in Mexico, reported the newspaper El Economista.
Death threats have driven two Mexican journalists into exile in the United States; one in Canada; and several more in Spain.
In 2011, Mexico was named the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, with nearly 80 reporters killed and 13 disappeared since 2000, according to the International Press Institute and Reporters Without Borders. Click here to see a Knight Center map of attacks on the press in Mexico.
