31 January 2022 | The Guardian
Roberto Toledo shot dead in Zitácuaro, Mexico
Shooting
Roberto Toledo was shot dead by three gunmen on Monday January 31 in a carpark in the city of Zitácuaro. He was a reporter for a local news outlet, Monitor Michoacán. Zitácuaro region is rife with violence as drug cartels and criminal groups fight to control illegal logging.
“Exposing corruption led to the death of one of our colleagues,” said Armando Linares, the director of Monitor Michoacán, in a video originally posted on Facebook. Linares broke down in tears before offering his apologies to Toledo’s family.
“[Toledo] lost his life at the hands of three people who shot him in a mean and cowardly manner,” he continued. “We don’t carry weapons. We only have a pen and a notebook to defend ourselves.”
The killing deepened the sense of desperation among journalists in Mexico, who accuse Andrés Manuel López Obrador of failing to take meaningful actions to protect them and their colleagues.
Adding to the sense of impotence among reporters is the fact that several journalists attacked or killed this month were enrolled in a scheme supposedly designed to provide for reporters under threat.
“Nobody in authority cares about journalism, unless it helps keep them in power. Let’s not fool ourselves,” tweeted Rafael Cabrera, an investigative reporter.
Toledo was the fourth Mexican journalist murdered in 2022.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/31/mexico-fourth-journalist-killed-roberto-toledo
