A total of 180 journalists have called on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to cease «harassment» against journalists following the attack against reporter and writer Ciro Gómez Leyva.
«Our solidarity with Ciro is total, and our indignation at the event leads us to demand that the president (…) cease the harassment he exercises against critical journalists», reads a letter signed by professionals from several Mexican media.
«Practically all the emanations of hatred towards journalists are incubated, born and spread in (the) National Palace», denounced the information professionals.
Thus, they pointed out that «defamation, which replaces the debate of ideas, is a call for physical violence against journalists stigmatized by the president».
«We demand that the Government clarify the attack, punish the material and intellectual culprits, and that President López Obrador assume his political responsibility in this assassination attempt», continues the letter.
The signatories have criticized the numbers of murders of journalists in the country: «Impunity is alarming». «If President López Obrador does not control himself in his angry impulses towards critical journalists, the country will enter an even bloodier stage,» they lamented.
The undersigned journalists work for media outlets such as ‘El Universal’, ‘Excélsior’, ‘Milenio’, ‘Reforma’, ‘El Financiero’, Radio Fórmula, Emeequis, W Radio, Etcétera, Latinus, and several others.
Gómez Leyva was the target of a direct armed attack last Thursday night in Mexico City as he was returning home. Several men on a motorcycle shot at him a short distance from the van in which he was traveling, whose armor protection ensured that he was not injured.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced last week the increase in the number of journalists murdered in 2022, rising 18.8 percent over the previous year, with 57 killed compared to 48.
«Moreover, some countries, such as Mexico, continue to fail to control the violence that gangrenes their territories and directly affects journalists.» In fact, Mexico has recorded eleven journalists murdered this year – bringing to 80 the number killed in the last ten years – which is close to 20 percent of the total number of journalists killed worldwide.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)