By Rocío Tueme*
Regina Martínez, a Mexican journalist who was killed in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz last year, will have a street in Oviedo, Spain named after her, reported news agency EFE.
On Wednesday, the mayor of Oviedo Agustín Iglesias Caunedo unveiled a plaque on the street that will have Martínez’s name. Xalapa and Oviedo are sister cities, reason why the Spanish city decided to honor Martínez, EFE reported.
Martínez was found dead on April 28, 2012, in the bathroom of her home in Xalapa, the BBC reported. At first, authorities believed that the journalist died of asphyxiation, but it was later revealed that her body displayed signs of “blows to the head and body,” state prosecutors said.
Martínez’s murder remains unsolved. Last October, state authorities detained and presented a suspect they said was responsible for the crime. However, the man later said he had been tortured to confess.
The southeastern state of Veracruz is one of the ten most dangerous places for journalists in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders. Nine journalists have been killed there since 2011.
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.
*Rocío Tueme is a student in the class "Journalism in Latin America" within the College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin.
