Unknown gunmen kidnapped and murdered a journalist in western Mexico. At the time of the killing, the gunmen left a posterboard claiming that the murder was for writing “false things about the people of Durango.”
The killing comes at a time when Mexico continues to experience extremely high levels of violence and forced disappearances. At the same time, the country’s government pushes doctored statistics to show low crime rates.
On Friday, a group of gunmen abducted, tortured, and murdered Miguel Angel Beltran Martinez, a local online journalist in Durango, Mexico, Semanario Zeta reported.
The gunmen dumped the body along a highway that connects Durango with the beach hotspot of Mazatlan in the state of Sinaloa. Next to the body, the gunmen left a threatening message claiming that the murder was because Beltran Martinez reported on “people from Durango”.
According to Zeta, Beltran Martinez ran a TikTok account called Capo and an X (Twitter) account called @Lagazzetadg0. In those accounts, Beltran Martinez reported on the ongoing violence in the region and on government corruption in the area.
As Breitbart Texas reported, several international press freedom organizations have labelled Mexico as one of the most dangerous places in the world for news workers.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded the Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Read the full article here