Journalist Rogelio Barragán found dead in Morelos

A Mexican journalist who covered the police in the violent southwestern state of Guerrero was found dead in the trunk of a vehicle with signs he had been shot and tortured , local police said on Tuesday .

A preliminary report says that around 18:20h , officials of Forensic Services went to the Circunvalación street, of the Benito Juárez settlement of the municipality of Zacatepec , where a vehicle with license plates from Guerrero, HCM-21-96 , was found, and inside the trunk was the dead body of the journalist Rogelio Barragán Pérez .

Mexico has been one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in recent years, although it was not immediately clear if the killing of Rogelio Barragán was linked to his work.

Barragán, director of the internet portal “ Guerrero al instante ” that covered the south of Mexico, was found in the neighboring central state of Morelos . He had been shot at least twice and his body showed signs of torture, police said.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has vowed to bring down violence. But free-speech advocacy group Article XIX has documented seven cases of journalists who have been killed since he took office in December.

Mexico vows to protect journalists as attacks against them increase

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