Another Mexican Journalist Murdered

If you’ve been following either the Foundation's blog, or stories coming out of Mexico, you’ll have heard about the unabated violence against journalists in Mexico. Well, two days ago, on September 23rd, the editor of Mexico’s online Radio Visión's website, Noberto Miranda Madrid was murdered in the northern state of Chihuahua. This brings the number of deaths of journalists in Mexico since 2000 to 55.

Madrid’s death comes as Reporters Without Borders is preparing to release a report of its latest fact-finding visit to Mexico that took place this past July. The report titled, "Behind the scenes of impunity in Mexico," rightly condemns the passivity of the authorities (and their apparent involvement in some cases). The report will be released during a news conference (to find out more about that conference, click here).

"The state of Chihuahua and its border city, Ciudad Juárez, are symbols of the uncontrollable violence resulting from the war between the drug cartels and the all-out military response from the federal authorities," Reporters Without Borders said. "Norberto Miranda clearly paid with his life for not conforming to the prevailing self-censorship in his coverage of this reality. The Juárez cartel was probably behind his murder."

According to local police sources, Miranda was murdered by three hooded men who forced their way into the Radio Visión office in Nuevo Casas Grandes, about 200 km from Ciudad Juárez, asked for Miranda and shot him in cold blood after he identified himself. Miranda’s murder came two days after freelance photographer Jaime Oma Gandara San Martin was stabbed to death in the state of Chihuahua.

Aged 44, Madrid wrote op-ed pieces under the pen-name of El Gallito (Little Rooster). His last column on September 22nd, (which can be read here) referred to the deaths of 25 people in Nuevo Casas Grandes since the start of the month in reprisals blamed on the Juárez Cartel.