By: Andrew Messamore*
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), a U.S. based organization, called upon officials in the U.S and Mexico Saturday to increase protections for Mexican reporters. The request comes following the murder of journalist Gregorio Jimenez de la Cruz and the government's controversial investigation of the killing that has caused international outcry.
Armed men kidnapped Jimenez de la Cruz, who reported on crime for two local publications, on Feb. 5 near his home in Coatzocalcos in the southeastern state of Veracruz. Authorities say he was murdered because of personal vengeance, but many Mexican journalists dispute those claims, says the Associated Press.
Authorities say Jimenez de la Cruz's neighbor, Teresa Jesus Hernandez Cruz, paid several alleged hit men to kidnap the journalist after a falling out. Four men have since been arrested as suspects in the case.
According to the Associate Press, Hernandez threatened the reporter three months prior to the murder, following a conflict between her son and Jiménez de la Cruz's daughter.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) criticized authorities for ruling out early on in their investigation the possibility that Jimenez de la Cruz's murder was related to his work. Article 19, says they received information suggesting that a criminal group had given orders to threaten media in the state's southern region, says IFEX.
As evidence of such foul play, Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas, points to the fact that Jimenez de la Cruz's body was discovered next to the body of Ernesto Ruiz Guillen, a union leader whose kidnapping was covered by Jiménez de la Cruz prior to his murder.
In a press release, the NAHJ called Jimenez de la Cruz's murder an example of the "unforgivable state of violence and fear endured by journalists in Mexico."
"Crimes against journalists exposing truths in the public's best interest compromises the freedom of expression... For U.S. and Mexican leaders not to act now weakens the fundamental bricks of their democratic foundation," says NAHJ president Hugo Balta.
The NAHJ calls upon U.S. President Barack Obama to reach out to the Mexican government and insist the laws protecting journalists be improved and enforced. President Obama met with Mexican President Peña Nieto yesterday in Toluca, Mexico during the North American Leader's Summit.
Veracruz is one of the most dangerous states for journalists in Mexico, a country where 88 journalists were killed between 2000 and 2013. Jiménez de la Cruz is the twelfth journalist to disappear or be killed since 2010.
*Andrew Messamore is a student in the class "Journalism in Latin America" at the University of Texas
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
