Miami (August 15, 2022) - The wave of violence against the press continues to rise in Mexico, denounced the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) after learning of the murder of four Mega Radio Networks workers in Ciudad Juárez last week.
Jorge Canahuati, IAPA President, and Carlos Jornet, chair of the Freedom of the Press and Information Committee, said: "The government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador should urgently establish concrete measures to stop violence, the impunity of these crimes and guarantee the protection of journalists."
On the afternoon of August 11, Allan González, announcer of the radio program Switch 105.9 FM; Lino Flores, from the Promotions area; Armando Guerrero, Operations Manager, and Alex Arriaga, bodyguard, were murdered. The radio team was broadcasting live from the parking lot of a pizzeria in Ciudad Juarez, in Chihuahua. That day, members of the organized crime perpetrated violent attacks against civilians and businesses in the city.
"We join in the general condemnation and consternation of these new crimes, which highlight the state of terror in which the citizens live and which particularly affects the Mexican press," said Canahuati, executive president of Grupo Opsa, in solidarity with the family and colleagues of the radio station.
According to local media, several shooters got out of a pickup truck and shot at the pizzeria's customers. When they saw the radio station's pickup truck, they headed toward them.
"We urge the authorities to investigate the crime quickly and thoroughly, to find those responsible and bring them to justice," said Jornet, journalistic director of the Argentine daily La Voz del Interior. He also regretted that Mexico "has become an example not to be followed in dealing with murders of journalists."
Mexico is going through one of the bloodiest years for the press, in addition to the four colleagues of Mega Radio killed last week, 13 other journalists were murdered in the country in 2022: Ernesto Méndez, Antonio de la Cruz, Sheila Johana García Olivera, Yessenia Mollinedo Falconi, Luis Enrique Ramírez, Armando Linares, Juan Carlos Muñiz, Jorge Camero, Heber López Vásquez, Roberto Toledo, Lourdes Maldonado, Margarito Martínez and José Luis Gamboa.
IAPA posthumously awarded its 2022 Grand Press Freedom Award to journalists who have died in the practice of their profession in Mexico since October 2021.
IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and freedom of expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications in the Western Hemisphere, based in Miami, Florida, United States.
