By Ingrid Bachmann
Thirteen journalists and photographers from Michoacán state in southwestern Mexico were abducted for three hours during a government media tour to promote tourism in the region, the Associated Press reports.
A group of Nahua landowners carrying machetes mistook the reporters for a crew that was coming to film a beer commercial on their land, AP and La Jornada say. When they realized the mistake, they released the reporters but kept their video equipment and cameras. The landowners also kidnapped the filmmakers when they arrived to shoot a commercial on a beach, AP and Milenio add.
Land conflicts, especially in indigenous communities have created several incidents of violence in rural zones of Mexico in recent months, AP explains.
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.
