Mexicans demand investigation into gang killing of veteran reporter

Latin America

Candles adorn posters with a picture of murdered journalist Javier Valdez and the words “Justice! No to silence!” during a demonstration outside the Interior Ministry in Mexico City, Tuesday, May 16, 2017. Valdez, a veteran reporter who specialized in covering drug trafficking and organized crime, was slain Monday in the northern Mexico state of Sinaloa, the latest in a wave of journalist killings in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media workers. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. In the past 17 years, more than 120 journalists have been killed in a country battling organized crime and corruption.

CGTN’s Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City.

Those who knew Javier Valdez personally will always remember him wearing his trademark hat. He dedicated his career to writing about the connections between organized crime and corrupt politicians.

Valdez was the award-winning founder of Rio Doce on-line news, and author of several books about drug trafficking in Mexico. This week, gunmen pulled him from his vehicle not far from his office and filled his body with bullets.

One day after he was murdered, journalists and other citizens gathered at Mexico’s Interior Ministry to mourn his death. Hundreds of people turned out to demand the federal government investigate the murder of journalist Javier Valdez and other journalists who have been killed in this country.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto met Wednesday with 24 state governors, telling them that journalists continue to be murdered in Mexico because many usually go unpunished.

Human rights organizations said the murder of Javier Valdez and other journalists constitutes one of the greatest threats to free speech and democracy in Mexico.