4th journalist murdered in Mexico in 2022

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY (AA) - Roberto Toledo became the fourth Mexican journalist murdered since 2022 began after he was shot dead by three unknown assailants in the northeastern city of Zitacuaro.

Prosecutors reported on the death of Toledo on Monday, who died outside a legal office from multiple gun wounds.

He was part of the digital media organization Monitor Michoacan that is under constant threats for investigating corrupted government officials from the state of Michoacan, according to its director Armondo Linares.

"Exhibiting corruption of corrupt governments, officials, and corrupt politicians today led to the death of one of our colleagues," Linares said in a statement on the group’s Facebook page.

The Interior Ministry, responsible for the mechanism in charge of protecting human rights activists and journalists, issued a report last year that revealed the nature of crimes since a program to protect media personnel was launched in 2012.

From 2012 to 2021, the main perpetrators have been government officials, according to the report. Out of the 889 identified culprits, 495 held administrative positions in the government.

Lourdes Maldonado, a journalist murdered earlier this month, had recently won a lawsuit against high-profile lawmaker and politician Jaime Bonilla.

Maldonado asked President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in 2019 for his assistance, pointing directly at Bonilla and stating that she "feared for her life."

Maldonado was murdered outside her home Jan. 23. Her death and the murder of two other journalists weeks earlier ignited nationwide protests.

Last week, the nation demonstrated in front of governmental buildings urging the administration to address the increasing wave of violence against journalists and activists.

"I only have to tell the family of our colleague that we are not going to leave things like this. We are going to take matters to their ultimate consequences,” said Linares