Mexico: RSF condemns the cruel murder of journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís in Michoacán
While Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is in Mexico to plead for the protection of journalists in one of the world's most dangerous countries at peace, a new murder has plunged the profession into terror. The director of the online media Minuto x Minuto, Mauricio Cruz Solís, was shot dead in the municipality of Uruapan, in the state of Michoacán. RSF strongly condemns this murder and calls on the country's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to take immediate concrete measures to ensure the safety of journalists.
He was only 25 years old. Mauricio Cruz Solís, director of the digital media Minuto x Minuto and presenter of the news programme "La Poderosa Uruapan" (“The Powerful Uruapan”) on the local radio station Radiorama, was brutally shot dead in the centre of the municipality of Uruapan, in the western Mexican state of Michoacán, on Tuesday 29 October.
According to official reports, the murder took place a few minutes after the journalist had broadcast live on his social networks an interview with the town's mayor, Carlos Manzo. Mauricio was covering issues relating to public safety and local politics. The Michoacán Attorney General's Office publicly announced that an investigation had been opened into the case.
"We are appalled by the murder of Mauricio Cruz Solís, a young journalist who was much loved by the profession and who symbolises the great challenge facing President Claudia Sheinbaum if she is to effectively curb the spiral of violence against journalists in Mexico. We also call on the Michoacán authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation to ensure that Mauricio Cruz Solís' murderers are held to account. We cannot accept another case of impunity in the country.
The director of RSF's Latin America office, Artur Romeu, is in Mexico this week, on the eve of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, specifically to address the issue of violence against the press in the country. He will be holding a series of meetings with representatives of the government, the legislature and the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE). The aim is to begin developing the action plan for the protection and defence of journalism, which President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to RSF during the election campaign, to implement by 2025.
A high-risk country for journalists
The death of Cruz Solís was the first murder of a journalist under the Sheinbaum administration, which took office on 1 October. But violence against the press increased sharply in October. On the night of 17 October, the newspaper El Debate in Culiacán, in the state of Sinaloa, was the target of an armed attack. The same week, journalist Arturo Hernández, editor-in-chief of the local media Impacto Publicitario in San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, in the state of Oaxaca, had his car burnt down by unknown assailants.
Mexico is ranked 121st in RSF's World Press Freedom Index 2024 and is the deadliest country for journalists outside war zones.
