Of the 67 killings and 14 disappearances of journalists in Mexico since 2006, in only one case have the perpetrators been brought to justice, according to a special prosecutor testifying before a Congressional panel in Mexico City.
The Mexican federal government signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on Wednesday, July 11, creating controversy since the Senate and the Federal Commission of Telecommunications feared that signing the international agreement could put freedom of expression at risk.
The passage of recent legislation in Mexico that allows crimes against journalists to be investigated at the federal, instead of local, level is just a first step toward improving the dire situation currently facing the Mexican press.
In one day, on Tuesday, July 10, three Mexican news outlets were attacked with explosives, reported the freedom of expression organization Article 19.
A grenade exploded outside of the offices of the newspaper El Norte in the city of Monterrey, in northern Mexico, reported the news agency Notimex on Tuesday, July 10.
Mexican journalist Sanjuana Martínez reported authority abuse after she was arrested at her home on Thursday, July 5, in the city of Monterrey, according to her blog post.
In Veracruz, the Mexican state where nine journalists have been brutally killed in 18 months, state legislators approved the creation of the State Commission for the Care and Protection of Journalists, according to the newspaper El Universal.
Mexican journalist Ana Lilia Pérez was recognized with the Leipziger Medienpreis 2012 award for being a courageous investigative journalist, reported the newspaper Milenio.
Mexican police arrested journalist Sanjuana Martínez in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León, according to her colleague, Lydia Cacho, who reported the arrest via Twitter the morning of Thursday, July 5.
Authorities in Veracruz, Mexico, said they arrested nine organized crime suspects, at least one of whom is suspected of killing Mexican reporter Víctor Báez Chino, according to Milenio, the newspaper for which Báez worked.
An intern for the Associated Press (AP) was found dead in Mexico City during the wee hours of Saturday, June 30, the AP reported.
Journalistic organizations in Mexico say that journalists are working in an especially hostile environment as the Sunday, July 1 presidential, congressional, and mayoral elections approach.