A fourth journalist has been shot to death this year in Mexico, which is now the the deadliest country in the world for media workers.
Roberto Toledo, 55, who also worked as an assistant in a law firm in the city of Zitacuaro in the Mexican state of Michoacan, was killed in the garage as he was preparing to leave work on 31st January.
According to reports, he was shot at close range by three armed men who were waiting for him in the garage. He was shot eight times and died in hospital.
The prosecutor’s office opened an investigation and so far, two motorcycles have been seized which were allegedly used by the gunmen to escape on.
Roberto also worked at a local news portal where he covered government information and made news videos.
Jesus Ramirez, a spokesperson for the president, has condemned the crime and expressed condolences to the victim’s family.
According to local media, he later posted another tweet a short while later apparently downplaying the incident and claiming that Roberto was not a journalist.
This was rejected, however, by those he worked for in the media, who said that “he kept a low profile to avoid trouble, given the threats we had received”.
Just one week earlier, journalist Lourdes Maldonado Lopez was also gunned down in her car.
She had said at a press conference with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in 2020 that she feared for her life.
Related Story:
Heartbreaking Image Shows Dog Patiently Waiting Outside Murdered Mexican Journalists Home
She said: “I come here to ask for support and labour justice, because I fear for my life.”
Maldonado was found dead by responding emergency workers, who were called after witnesses heard gunshots.
The Mexican government continues to be criticised for its lack of a specific strategy to protect the journalist from being attacked.
No arrests have been made so far.
