"The director of the Noticias Minuto a Minuto news website and Panorama Pacífico TV in the southern state of Oaxaca, Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera was in close contact with RSF in the weeks prior to his death. A specialist in covering local politics, crime and court cases, he knew another attack against him was imminent and he feared for his life.
He was shot by gunmen yesterday [June 17] morning while riding a motorcycle with his son near Morro de Mazatán, a Pacific coast locality that is 40 km from the city of Tehuantepec, in the southeast of Oaxaca state.
[...]
After he was the target of a murder attempt outside his home in July 2020, the Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office issued a warrant for the arrest of his assailant, named as Esteban de la Cruz Lagunas, but the warrant was never executed.
Since then, he had constantly reported receiving threats in connection with his journalism. After ignoring his initial requests for protection, the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Journalists finally agreed last month to provide him with surveillance outside his home, an escort during his movements and the loan of a bullet-proof vest.
But these measures were not implemented and RSF’s representative in Mexico, Balbina Flores, was pressing the Federal Mechanism to provide him with protection as a matter of urgency until the day before his murder."
