Journalist killed in Mexico at least 9th this year
XALAPA, Mexico — A newspaper reporter in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz who was enrolled in a government protection program for journalists was killed Tuesday along with two other men, one of his editors and a journalist advocacy group said.
Candido Rios Vazquez, a crime reporter for the newspaper Diario de Acayucan, was at least the ninth journalist slain this year in Mexico.
The State Commission for Attention and Protection of Journalists and Cecilio Perez Cortes, deputy editor at Rios’ newspaper, said the reporter was in the federal government’s mechanism for protection of journalists and human rights workers.
Perez said Rios had been threatened repeatedly since 2012 by a former mayor of Hueyapan de Ocampo and had a panic button on his cellphone and a security camera at his home. Rios had just finished his work for the day around 3 p.m. and was on his way home, Perez said.