Mexico began investigating the murder of another journalist as the industry observed World Press Freedom Day on Friday, the latest casualty in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media workers.
Telésforo Santiago Enríquez
, a retired teacher and founder of a community radio station, was found shot to death in a car on Thursday in the southern state of Oaxaca , the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement later that day, adding that it had launched a probe into the killing.
Enriquez is at least the seventh media member to be killed during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ’s administration. In March, the deputy interior minister for human rights, Alejandro Encinas , said six others had been murdered since López Obrador took office in December.
Jesús Ramírez, a presidential spokesman, said the government would work to bring the killer to justice. Human rights organizations have criticized the government for not doing more to put an end to a long series of attacks on journalists and punish the people responsible for them.
“We are committed to finding those responsible for attacks against Mexican journalism,” Ramirez wrote in a post on Twitter.
Mexico is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters, with at least 124 media workers killed since 2000 , according to rights group Article 19 .
Encinas has said the government would seek more funding for a program geared to protecting journalists, without specifying the amount.
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