In Mexico, a reporter published a story. The next day he was shot dead - Reuters.com

MEXICO CITY, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Just aft sunset connected Thursday, February 10th, 2 men successful a achromatic Dodge Ram pickup pulled up successful beforehand of Heber Lopez Vasquez's tiny vigor workplace successful confederate Mexico. One antheral got out, walked wrong and changeable the 42-year-old writer dead. Lopez's 12-year-old lad Oscar, the lone idiosyncratic with him, hid, Lopez's member told Reuters.

Lopez was 1 of 13 Mexican journalists killed successful 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based rights group. It was the deadliest twelvemonth connected grounds for journalists successful Mexico, present the astir unsafe state for reporters successful the satellite extracurricular the warfare successful Ukraine, wherever CPJ says 15 reporters were killed past year.

A time earlier, Lopez–who ran 2 online quality sites successful the confederate Oaxaca state–had published a communicative connected Facebook accusing section person Arminda Espinosa Cartas of corruption related to her re-election efforts.

As helium laic dead, a adjacent patrol car responded to an exigency call, intercepted the pickup and arrested the 2 men. One of them, it aboriginal emerged, was the member of Espinosa, the person successful Lopez's story.

Espinosa has not been charged successful transportation with Lopez's killing. She did not respond to aggregate requests for remark and Reuters could not find immoderate erstwhile remark she made astir her relation successful corruption oregon connected Lopez's story.

Her member and the different antheral stay detained but person yet to beryllium tried. Their lawyer did not respond to aggregate requests for comment.

"I already stopped covering cause trafficking and corruption and Heber's decease inactive scares me," said Hiram Moreno, a seasoned Oaxacan writer who was changeable 3 times successful 2019, sustaining injuries successful the limb and back, aft penning astir cause deals by section transgression groups. His assailant was ne'er identified. "You cannot number connected the government. Self-censorship is the lone happening that volition support you safe."

It is simply a signifier of fearfulness and intimidation playing retired crossed Mexico, arsenic years of unit and impunity person created what academics telephone "silence zones" wherever sidesplitting and corruption spell unchecked and undocumented.

"In soundlessness zones radical don't get entree to basal accusation to behaviour their lives," said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ's Mexico representative. "They don't cognize who to ballot for due to the fact that determination are nary corruption investigations. They don't cognize which areas are violent, what they tin accidental and not say, truthful they enactment silent."

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's spokesperson did not respond to a petition for remark astir attacks connected the media.

Since the commencement of Mexico's cause warfare successful 2006, 133 reporters person been killed for motives related to their work, CPJ determined, and different 13 for undetermined reasons. In that clip Mexico has registered implicit 360,000 homicides.

Aggression against journalists has dispersed successful caller years to antecedently little hostile areas–such arsenic Oaxaca and Chiapas–threatening to crook much parts of Mexico into accusation dormant zones, accidental rights groups similar Reporters Without Borders and 10 section journalists.

Lopez was the 2nd writer since mid-2021 to beryllium murdered successful Salina Cruz, a Pacific larboard successful Oaxaca. It nestles successful the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a skinny agelong of onshore connecting the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific that has go a landing spot for precursor chemicals to marque fentanyl and meth, according to 3 information analysts and a DEA source.

Lopez's past story, 1 of respective helium wrote astir Espinosa, covered the politician's alleged efforts to get a institution constructing a breakwater successful Salina Cruz's larboard to endanger workers to formed their ballot for her re-election oregon other beryllium fired.

The infrastructure was a portion of the Interoceanic Corridor–one of Lopez Obrador's flagship improvement projects successful confederate Mexico.

Jose Ignacio Martinez, a transgression newsman successful the isthmus, and 9 of Lopez's chap journalists accidental since his execution they are much acrophobic to people stories delving into the corridor project, cause trafficking and authorities collusion with organized crime.

One outlet Reuters spoke to, which asked not to beryllium named for fearfulness of reprisals, said it had done an probe connected the corridor, but did not consciousness harmless to people aft Lopez's death.

Lopez Obrador's spokesperson did not respond to a petition for remark astir corruption accusations related to the corridor.

THE MECHANISM

In 2012 the authorities established the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists.

Known simply arsenic the Mechanism, the assemblage provides journalists with protections specified arsenic panic buttons, surveillance equipment, location constabulary watch, equipped guards and relocation. Since 2017, 9 Mechanism-protected reporters person been murdered, CPJ found.

Journalists and activists whitethorn petition extortion from the Mechanism, which evaluates their lawsuit on with a radical of quality rights defenders, journalists and representatives of nonprofits, arsenic good arsenic officials from assorted authorities agencies that marque up a governing board. Not each those who petition extortion person it, based connected the analysis.

At contiguous determination are 1,600 radical enrolled successful the Mechanism, including 500 journalists.

One of those killed was Gustavo Sanchez, a writer changeable astatine adjacent scope successful June 2021 by 2 motorcycle-riding hitmen. Sanchez, who had written captious articles astir politicians and transgression groups, enrolled successful the Mechanism for a 3rd clip aft surviving an assassination effort successful 2020. Protection ne'er arrived.

Oaxaca's authoritative astatine the clip said Sanchez's sum of section elections would beryllium a superior enactment of probe into his murder. No 1 has been charged successful the case.

Sanchez's sidesplitting triggered Mexico's quality rights committee to nutrient a 100-page probe into authorities' failings. Evidence "revealed omissions, delays, negligence and breach of duties by astatine slightest 15 nationalist servants," said the report.

Enrique Irazoque, caput of the Interior Ministry's section for the Defense of Human Rights, said the Mechanism accepted the findings, but highlighted the relation section authorities played successful the extortion lag.

Fifteen radical wrong authorities and civilian nine told Reuters the Mechanism is under-resourced fixed the scope of the problem. Irazoque agreed, though helium noted its unit of 40 accrued past twelvemonth to a unit of 70. Its 2023 fund accrued to astir $28.8 cardinal from $20 cardinal successful 2022.

In summation to the shortage of funding, Irazoque said that section authorities, authorities governments and courts request to bash more, but determination was a deficiency of governmental will.

"The Mechanism is absorbing each the problems, but the issues are not federal, they are local," helium said successful an interrogation with Reuters.

More convictions are what Irazoque believes are astir needed, saying the deficiency of ineligible repercussions for nationalist officials encourages corruption.

Impunity for writer killings hovers astir 89%, a 2021 study from the Interior Ministry, which oversees the Mechanism, showed. Local nationalist servants were the biggest root of unit against journalists, up of organized crime, the study found.

"You would deliberation the biggest force would beryllium equipped groups and organized crime," said writer Patricia Mayorga, who fled Mexico aft investigating corruption. "But truly it's the ties betwixt those groups and the authorities officials that are the problem."

Many Mexican journalists killed worked for small, independent, integer outlets that sometimes lone published connected Facebook, noted Irazoque, saying their stories dug heavy into section governmental issues.

Mexico's National Association of Mayors (ANAC) and its National Conference of Governors (CONAGO) did not respond to requests for remark astir the relation of authorities and section governments successful writer killings oregon allegations of corrupt ties to transgression groups.

President Lopez Obrador often pillories the press, calling retired reporters captious of his medication and holding a play conception successful his regular quality league dedicated to the "lies of the week." He condemns the murders, portion accusing adversaries of talking up the unit to discredit him.

Irazoque says helium has nary grounds the president's verbal attacks person led to unit against journalists. Lopez Obrador's spokesperson did not respond to a petition for comment.

"What benignant of beingness is this?," writer Rodolfo Montes said, eyeing information footage from wrong his location wherever the Mechanism, successful which helium archetypal enrolled successful 2017, had installed cameras with eyes connected the garage, thoroughfare and entryway.

Years earlier, a cartel rolled a slug nether the doorway arsenic a threat, and helium has been connected borderline ever since. An full archive container of threats dispersed implicit a decennary sat successful the corner. Looking down astatine his telephone aft a cartel threatened his 24-year-old girl conscionable a fewer days before, helium said, "I'm living, but I'm dead, you know?"

Editing by Claudia Parsons and Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Pepe Cortes successful Oaxaca

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