The Mexican president stated Thursday that the murder of a reporter in Tamaulipas, the northern border state in Mexico, - the 12th this year - could be connected to local politics.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, President of the United States, stated that federal prosecutors took over the investigation into the murder of Antonio de la Cruz. This was a crime against freedom expression.
De la Cruz's little girl was seriously injured in Wednesday's attack in Tamaulipas, the state capital. She was being treated at a local hospital for her injuries.
One of De la Cruz's coworkers said that De la Cruz was being asked by the state to remove some of his tweets on Thursday.
Carlos Manuel Juarez, a fellow reporter, said that Antonio had tweeted criticisms of the state government and the government. "He even said to me that they had asked him for some of his critical tweets to be taken down."
Juarez spoke out about the fear Tamaulipas reporters felt after the murder. Drug cartels have long dominated the state.
It is extremely dangerous to not know the origin of the attack, and it makes our colleagues feel very vulnerable. Juarez stated that we don't know if the attack is purely political.
Lopez Obrador stated that the federal prosecutors took over the case because of criticisms from local authorities.
De la Cruz (47) was a reporter at the Expreso local newspaper for nearly three decades.
Thursday's print edition of the newspaper was printed in black. It featured De la Cruz's photograph and the words "Justice!" The front page.
Miguel Dominguez, Expreso's director said that "this is clearly an attack upon freedom of expression."
Dominguez stated that "we live in a state of violence for over a decade" and that the media has also been affected by it. "Unfortunately, this has meant that we had to get used to these conditions and have to take extra precautions. We also need to consider carefully whether or not we will publish something.
Nearly all of Tamaulipas’ recent governors were accused of corruption. These allegations range from money laundering to aiding drug cartels.
De la Cruz's murder brought to twelve the death of Mexican journalists this year, making it the deadliest year for Mexican journalists and for any country other than a war zone.
De la Cruz was attacked by a motorcyclist who shot him in the car in front his Ciudad Victoria home. His daughter was also in the vehicle and was injured.
Expreso reports on all aspects of city news, including security concerns. De la Cruz covered social and rural topics, such as water scarcity.
He also covered Citizens Movement's political party and Gustavo Cardenas Gutierrez (the local deputy), who condemned the murder.
Over the years, Expreso has been targeted. A car bomb was set off in front of the newspaper's building in 2012, when drug cartel violence was at its worst. A cooler with a human head in it was left at the newspaper in 2018, along with a warning to not report on violence within the city.
Two colleagues from a news website were killed in Veracruz, a state on the Gulf coast. Veracruz State Prosecutor's Office stated that it was investigating the deaths of Yessenia Mollinedo Fali and Sheila Johana Garcia Olivera. They were the director and reporter of El Veraz in Cosoleacaque.
Prosecutors in Michoacan's western state reported that reporter Armando Linares was killed at Zitacuaro home. Six weeks later, Roberto Toledo was shot to death at a Zitacuaro home. Linares posted a video to social media on January 31st announcing Toledo's death.
Juan Carlos Muniz was a reporter for Testigo Minero, an online news site that covers crime in Zacatecas. He was shot and killed by gunmen early March.
Jorge Camero was the director of an online news website and was a municipal worker in Sonora's northern state until recently. He was shot to death in February.
Heber Lopez, the director of Noticias Web's online news site, was killed in Oaxaca, the southern state.
Lourdes Maldonado, a reporter, was shot to death in her Tijuana car on January 23. Maldonado Lopez, a reporter from Mexico, said she feared for her own life at a news conference in 2019.
Jose Luis Gamboa, a reporter from Veracruz, was shot to death on January 10.
Margarito Martinez, a crime photographer, was shot to death outside Margarito's Tijuana residence on Jan. 17. Guillermo Arias is a photographer whose photos chronicle death and life in Tijuana's streets for many years.
He was still adamant about the difficult experience of reporting on the murder of his journalist friend.
Arias stated that her father's daughter visited and asked me to not photograph his body.
