By Paloma de León
Organizations, citizens and academics in Mexico denounced last week the ongoing threats that journalist Norma Trujillo has been receiving since Nov. 6 from the group of political activists Antorcha Campensina, reported Spanish newspaper El País.
Trujillo covered a protest of teachers in front of the State Congress of Veracruz on Nov. 5. In her story about the event, the journalist mentioned an alleged "recording in which local legislator Minerva Salcedo Baca can be heard" negotiating with Antorcha Campesina to attack the teachers during the demonstration, according to news website ACI Veracruz. Antorcha Campesina accused Trujillo of defamation and said that the journalist intended to create ill will toward the movement.
Antorcha Campensina is a group of activists close to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), to which Veracruz governor Javier Duarte belongs. According to newspaper La Jornada, Salcedo Baca is a member of Antorcha Campesina.
Freedom of expression group "Zapateando, Medios Libres" called on Duarte's government to protect the safety of the journalist.
Veracruz has become one of the most hostile places for journalists on the American continent. In March this year, NGO Article 19 declared Veracruz the most dangerous state in Mexico for the press.
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.
