A group of gunmen shot and killed a journalist in Mexico. The crime comes just days after a female journalist was kidnapped in the same state of Veracruz. The attack is even more alarming as the murdered journalist was under government protection after having received threats from law enforcement.
The murder took place early Thursday morning when Luis Angel Lopez Valdez traveled along a busy avenue in Poza Rica, Veracruz. A group of gunmen pulled up alongside him and opened fire before speeding away. By the time authorities responded, Lopez was already dead.
The journalist was a crime reporter for Vanguardia Newspaper. He also ran his own crime blog and served as a regional director for the first-aid organization Amber Cross. According to Mexico’s Zeta magazine, Lopez was under government protection after having been the target of threats from alleged law enforcement officials in connection with his work as a journalist.
As Breitbart Texas reported, Veracruz is one of the deadliest places in Mexico for journalists due to the impunity with which cartels operate in that state. Those cartels are often protected by government officials at the highest levels who have a long history of looking the other way in exchange for bribes and political support.
The murder of Lopez comes days after a group of gunmen stormed into a home in rural Veracruz and kidnapped Roxana Guzman, a female journalist who had exposed widespread cartel corruption in the region. Her fate remains unknown.
The international press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists documented Lopez’s murder and has been pushing for transparency in the case. The organization has a long history of documenting attacks on journalists in Mexico, which it labels 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 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 Iortiz@breitbart.com.
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 bdarby@breitbart.com.