Authorities have not said who was responsible for the violence, but it came amid an escalation of violence by the Jalisco New Generation Drug Cartel, which killed 20 police officers in two ambushes in March and April.
HECTOR GUERRERO/AFP via Getty Images

A video was released showing a man threatening TV reporter Azucena Uresti, on behalf of Jalisco cartel boss, to murder the news anchor over what they said to be unfair coverage.

The man had complained that the Milenio Television was favoring so-called defense groups organized to resist the Jalisco New Generation cartel, according to a BBC News report.

The man had said he will make Uresti eat her own words even if they accuse him of femicide.

Heavily armed men wearing masks were also shown in the video while talking at a small desk.

The man added that the Mexican drug cartel supports the media's freedom of expression. However, he said that there needs to be more balanced coverage.

"Unfair Coverage"

The man alleged that the vigilante groups were actually drug traffickers, which are the only organizations that could afford the armament those groups had at their disposal.

The video had noted Hipolito Mora, who was the one who organized a self-defense force in Michoacan nearly a decade before, according to The Guardian report.

Expert accounts suggest that the vigilante self-defense forces have helped to fight violations in such high-crime areas.

However, some have reportedly struck deals to get protection and firearms from criminal gangs.

Presidential spokesman Jesús Ramírez Cuevas said that the Mexican government will take the necessary measures to protect threatened journalists and news outlets.

Journalists in Mexico

Mexico was deemed the deadliest country for journalists by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Local reporters were mostly targeted, particularly those in regions where rival crime groups are fighting for domination and control.

A report from the U.S. Department of State noted that 94 percent of crimes done in Mexico are not reported or investigated, with nearly nine out of 10 homicides being unpunished, according to an NBC News report.

Itzia Miravete, who works at Article 19 as a prevention coordinator, said that they are experiencing a crisis of generalized violence, human rights violations, disappearances, femicides, and executions in Mexico.

Miravete said that attacking journalists shows an intention to prevent the information from reaching the people and society.

Article 19 is an organization that defends the right of freedom of expression.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International's report had condemned Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for his tendency to lash out at national media.

The report stated that the act weakens the press and favors the establishment of an environment of censorship.

Among the journalists murdered was Israel Vasquez, who was covering the discovery of dismembered people left in a church in Mexico.

He was preparing to do a Facebook broadcast when two men on a motorcycle drove by and shot him.

While he was not the only journalist being killed in Mexico in 2020, his case was being investigated.

Reporters Without Borders noted that at least eight journalists were killed in Mexico last year, marking Mexico as the deadliest country for journalists.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

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