In this period the press has suffered an upturn in violence. Seven journalists have been murdered since the meeting in Antigua, bringing the number in the year to 10.
The traditional and digital news media gave wide coverage to the events following the earthquakes that shook the country. On September 7 an 8.2 quake was felt in Oaxaca and Chiapas, causing 96 deaths and damage to infrastructure. On September 19 a 7.1 quake again shook the country, leaving 369 deaths and considerable material damage in Mexico City, Puebla, Mexico State, Guerrero and Oaxaca.
Concerning violence against journalists the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) estimates that from 2000 to date there have occurred 130 murders, 38 of these having been committed during the current government of President Enrique Peña Nieto. In addition, there is a climate of constant aggressions, many of them committed by public officials.
Since the meeting in Antigua murdered were journalists Maximino Rodríguez, Javier Valdez, Jonathan Rodríguez, Salvador Adame Pardo, Cándido Ríos Vázquez, Juan Carlos Hernández and Édgar Daniel Esqueda.
Artículo 19 documented 276 attacks against the press this year, a 23% increase over the same period last year. The CNDH says that only in 10% of the cases has there been a sentencing. The rest are not investigated and remain unpunished.
Within the framework of elections held this year there was recorded an increase in attacks upon journalists. In Coahuila there was a 325% increase in such attacks. These attacks also increased in Mexico City and Veracruz.
On September 14 it was learned that the municipal authorities of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, filed suit against the newspaper El Mañana de Nuevo Laredo in reprisal for its publication of journalists' investigations concerning public corruption. The newspaper published reports on alleged unlawful acts that were said to involve the existence of ghost companies that acquired million-dollar contracts for advertising, cases of nepotism and alleged enrichment on the part of Mayor Enrique Rivas and other local officials.
The following are other important events of the past six months:
On April 14 the murder occurred in La Paz Baja, California Sur, of Maximino Rodríguez Palacios, stringer for Colecitvo Pericú. He was shot at from a vehicle as he was getting out of his car. Arrested in early June were three persons allegedly involved in the murder.
On May 15 Javier Valdez Cárdenas, co-founder of the weekly newspaper Riodoce and correspondent of La Jornada, was murdered in Culiacán, Sinaloa. He was left dead in a street a few yards from his publication at midday. To date the authorities have not shown any progress in their investigations.
The same day was the murder of Jonathan Rodríguez Córdova, a reporter with the weekly newspaper El Costeño in Autlán, Jalisco. A group of armed men shot 25 times at the vehicle in which he was traveling with his mother. Four bullets hit him in the body and his mother was seriously injured. The newspaper had received threats.
On May 18 the kidnapping occurred of Salvador Adame Pardo, owner of Canal 6TV in Múgica, Michoacán. His burned body was found on June 26. It is believed that the head of a local criminal gang, Feliciano Ledezma, nicknamed "El Chano Peña," could have been responsible for the crime.
On August 22 the murder was committed of Cándido Ríos Vázquez in the municipality of Hueyapan de Ocampo in Veracruz. He was stringer for the newspaper Diario de Acayucan and founder of La Voz de Hueyapan. He used to publish information about cases of corruption and abuse of power.
On September 5 there was the murder of Juan Carlos Hernández, stringer photographer and newsroom assistant of the portal La Bandera Noticias in Yuririra, Guanajuato. He was attacked by assailants who shot him as he was leaving his home at night. Local media said that the Web site had reported being threatened.
On October 5 the murder occurred of Édgar Daniel Esqueda Castro in San Luis Potosí. He was stringer of the media Vox Populi and Metrópoli de San Luis. Assailants dressed in police uniforms entered his home and carried him off. He was found dead the following day, with signs of torture, half-dressed and with his hands tied behind his back. He used to cover the police beat and several months before his murder he reported he had been threatened.
On October 16 journalist and news announcer Cecilia Méndez was attacked in Zapopan, Jalisco. She was traveling in her car after leaving the radio station where she broadcast the program "Yo siempre estoy bien" (I am always well) in Zapopan. Assailants riding a motorcycle shot her in the face and chest.
The high level of impunity and lack of safety in which journalists work in the country is evidenced in the lack of results of investigations that lead to the punishment of those responsible for the murders and attacks.
