Journalist Francisco Romero killed in Playa del Carmen

A crime reporter has been shot and killed in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Caribbean coast , authorities said on Thursday, the latest in a rising death toll of journalists under the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador .

The body of Francisco Romero , a police reporter for newspaper “ Quintana Roo, Hoy ” and director of the local news website “ Ocurrio Aquí ” was found outside a bar in Playa del Carmen in the state of Quintana Roo, local prosecutors said.

“ Ocurrio Aquí ” also confirmed Romero’s death.

State prosecutors said in a statement the motive for the killing was unclear and that investigations were continuing.

Romero had reported threats against him

and recently posted a video saying he had been kidnapped, blindfolded and beaten by unidentified assailants.

Playa del Carmen

is close to the popular resort of Cancún , and the area has been a focal point of turf wars between local gangs battling for control of criminal rackets .

According to a tally kept by Article 19 , a free-speech advocacy group, Romero becomes the sixth journalist to be killed since López Obrador took office at the start of December.

Article 19 said Romero was part of a government program designed to give at-risk reporters protection .

López Obrador won election last July pledging to tackle rampant violence in Mexico, which suffered a record murder tally of nearly 29,000 last year. So far, however, killings are still rising and 2019 is on track to surpass the 2018 total.

sg