Three journalists and two relatives of one of them were kidnapped by armed men in Taxco, in the Mexican state of Guerrero, according to the organizations Artículo 19 - Office for Mexico and Central America and Comunicación e Información de la Mujer A.C. (CIMAC, by its Spanish acronym).
The first victims were Marco Antonio Toledo Jaimes, director of the weekly El Espectador de Taxco, correspondent of N3 Guerrero, La Crónica and Vespertino de Chilpancingo; his wife, Guadalupe Denova, and his son, Alberto Toledo. According to Artículo 19, on Sunday, Nov. 19, a group of at least five armed individuals entered their home, stole several items and kidnapped the family.
On Wednesday, Nov. 22, journalists Silvia Nayssa Arce Avilés and Alberto Sánchez Juárez, of the digital media RedSiete, were also kidnapped in Taxco, according to Artículo 19.
According to information gathered by the organization, Toledo covers local and state political and security issues. Recently, he published a story in which he denounced the municipal government's approval of a budget granted for a construction project in Taxco. At least two testimonies indicated that the journalist had been the victim of threats and harassment in previous years.
Nayssa and Sánchez run the digital media outlet RedSiete. According to testimonies shared with Artículo 19 and CIMAC from people whose identities were withheld for security reasons, on the night of Nov. 22, an armed group intercepted and kidnapped them near Plaza Taxco, in Colonia Centro.
According to the Associated Press, Mexican authorities are investigating the incident.
