"The weather forecast warned us early on. That July 17, 1986, was going to be a scorching day in Matamoros, Tamaulipas: thermometers were already reading 28 degrees Celsius [82°F] before seven in the morning.
In the distance, I managed to spot the small Ford Bronco truck belonging to [El Popular] director Ernesto Flores Torrijos parked on Vizcaya Street, with the passenger door wide open. His door was open too. Lying on the street outside were the bodies of Flores Torrijos and Norma Alicia Moreno Figueroa, the senior reporter for El Popular.
Police later reported that two men dressed in sportswear had been waiting for them. Upon seeing them arrive, the gunmen walked up and executed them: Flores Torrijos was shot 23 times, Moreno 12 times, both receiving a coup de grâce. The killers used .45 and 9mm caliber weapons.
Ernesto and Norma joined a short list of slain journalists that has continued to grow ever since, accumulating more than 181 names between 2000 and 2026 alone. Norma's case carried a stark historical marker: at just 24 years old, she became the first female journalist in Mexico to fall victim to lethal violence.
Forty years have passed since that day—40 years of absolute impunity."
