On Thursday, a journalist was gunned down in the Mexican state of Veracruz. In response, the country’s president has said that protections for journalists are inadequate — a rare admission from a Mexican leader.
On Friday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said mechanisms meant to keep journalists in Mexico safe need to be reviewed, calling them ineffective.
"I am going to propose ... that a revision is made of the protection mechanism for journalists," he said during a morning press conference. "Perhaps it is not the most effective, the most convenient, and it must be revised."
His comments come the day after radio reporter Jacinto Romero Flores was shot and killed in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.
His murder is the latest attack in a country considered the most dangerous for journalists in the Western hemisphere, according to the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
The murder also comes just a week after another journalist was kidnapped, robbed and threatened in the state of Mexico.
Press groups are calling on authorities to carry out thorough, transparent investigations into these attacks and others.
#MEXICO: CPJ has learned of and strongly condemns the murder of reporter Jacinto Romero in the state of Veracruz and urges authorities to undertake a swift, transparent and exhaustive investigation into the killing. https://t.co/KcIedxKHuI
— CPJ Américas (@CPJAmericas) August 20, 2021
