More journalists are murdered in Mexico than in Afghanistan

In the last 8 months, 25 journalists from different countries have been silenced forever. Unfortunately, a third of the victims were killed in Mexico : ten Mexican journalists were murdered in 2019. Nevertheless, these numbers don't include Edgar Alberto Nava López , who led La Verdad , a news site in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero , perhaps because he was also a public servant and the motives behind his murder are still unknown.

It is a disgrace that Mexico , a so-called peaceful country that is not officially living through armed conflict , tripled the number of journalists killed in Afghanistan . In contrast, the Asian country has registered the death of three journalists in the midst of civil war and while it is under the yoke of A l-Qaeda, ISIS , and the Taliban . Pakistan and Somalia are in third place after each registering 2 journalists dead.

It seems like the violence spread in Mexico by drug cartels makes the delicate and dangerous situation in Afghanistan , especially in regards to journalism , seem like child's play. It is alarming in 2019, Mexico has registered a larger number of journalists killed than Afghanistan because in 2018, Afghanistan and Syria were on top of the ranking, even when the country is not going through a civil war, in contrast with the Asian countries. Now Mexico has become “the deadliest to be a journalist” and has also plunged into the 140th place, among 180, in the World Press Freedom Index.

Mexico

has registered the largest number of journalists killed for quite some time, although it has always been downplayed by federal and local authorities as they often try to attribute the murders to activities that are not linked to journalism . Unfortunately, Mexico was also classified as a country where freedom of press almost non-existent. It is time to protect the truth.

Families are also direct victims of torture: the case of Mexican journalist Olivier Acuña

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