Journalists in Mexico Are Still Being Killed Despite Promises of Protection Paul Imison - VICE News
go to original December 12, 2015

In Mexico, Journalism Can be a Very Dangerous Career Choice (teleSUR English)

When national newspaper journalist Maite Azuela opened an anonymous letter she received in her Mexico City home a couple of weeks ago she felt a swell of fear unlike anything she'd felt before.

In her hands she held a picture of herself mocked up to look like a skull and a pledge to kill her. Alongside her name lay the words bitch, slut, piece of shit, and more.



"The sense of vulnerability you feel at a moment like that is overwhelming," said Azuela, who writes on corruption and human rights issues for the national daily El Universal. "You start to constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering who might be following you."

Her fears were fueled by the knowledge that at least three journalists have been killed in Mexico this year, according to Reporters without Borders. Others say it could be significantly more.

"We are possibly looking at seven or eight cases this year alone," said Dario Ramírez, director of the Mexican branch of Article 19, a London-based organization dedicated to monitoring crimes against the press. "For Article 19, our main concern is whether the attacks were motivated by the journalists' work. In many cases in Mexico, this is unclear."

The death toll is particularly worrying given the national and international attention placed on such attacks in recent years along with repeated vows by the government to act on the issue.

Read the rest at VICE News

Related: Journalism, Tamaulipas-Style: Learning to Keep Quiet (El Daily Post)

Related: Endangered Mexican Journalists Seek Asylum in U.S. (CNN)

Photo: Maite Azuela

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