On May 23, 2023, the journalist Marco Aurelio Hernández was assassinated in Puebla, Mexico. According to local media reports, while he was travelling in his car, armed individuals began to attack him at around 1:30 p.m. (local time) resulting in his death. Medical services arrived at the scene, but unfortunately, he had already passed away.
The organization Article 19 reported on social networks that they are documenting the murder of Ramírez Hernández. They also discovered that he was a journalist for almost three decades, working in various media, including Periódico Central. In 2018, he worked at the Tehuacán Mayor’s Office and recently practiced as a lawyer while collaborating with some media.
Furthermore, they demanded the Puebla Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the murder through the Approved Protocol against crimes against freedom of expression and asked that the journalist’s relatives and colleagues be protected.
The Americas Program of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also reported that they are gathering information on events that led to the death of the former correspondent for the local newspaper Central Puebla. Moreover, on May 11, journalist Gerardo Torres Rentería was also shot in Guerrero, Mexico.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) stated that in 2022, Mexico became the “country at peace” more dangerous for the press, with 13 journalists murdered, representing 20 percent of this type of cases worldwide.
“[La fiscalía] it must rule out whether the homicide is related to his activity as a municipal official or to his journalistic practice. Reporters Without Borders calls for a rapid and transparent investigation of the crime,” stated the organization in a statement.
Article 19 also mentioned that from the year 2000 to date, it recorded the murder of 157 journalists for carrying out their work, of these, 37 have occurred during the mandate of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who assumed the presidency on December 1, 2018.
