Two Mexican journalists were shot dead in the last 24 hours

Friends and family members mourn local journalist and online news chief Mauricio Cruz, who was shot and killed by unknown assailants after a wake-up call for Cruz in Uruapan, Mexico on October 30, 2024 | Photo source: Reuters

Two Mexican journalists were shot dead in less than 24 hours in western states, authorities say, as violence in the region escalates.

A Mexican journalist was shot dead in the western state of Colima on Wednesday (October 30, 2024) afternoon, the state’s persecution office said. Reuters.

Her name was Patricia Ramirez, also known as Paty Bunbury, and she worked as an entertainment reporter, according to the New York-based human rights organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

This is the second journalist shot dead in less than 24 hours in Mexico, considered by press freedom groups to be one of the deadliest countries for journalists, after the head of an online news site in Mexico was murdered late on Tuesday evening (October 29, 2024). .

The killings were the first of a journalist under the leadership of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office earlier this month and pledged to fight violence and crime.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Mauricio Cruz was shot dead in the city of Uruapan, in the violence-stricken western state of Michoacan. Another person, whom the prosecutor did not identify, was injured as a result of the shooting.

Uruapan is known for shameless crimes, such as beheadings resulting from fights between drug cartels and clashes with law enforcement.

Mr. Cruz’s news service, MinutoXMinuto Michoacanposted a tribute to the journalist on his Facebook page, including his last live video minutes before his death.

Even as the nation was rocked by a wave of violence, Sheinbaum followed the work of her predecessor and mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in stating that her government would not wage a new war against Mexican drug cartels.