A Mexican journalist was shot dead on Sunday in the city of Iguala in the southwestern state of Guerrero, reported Reuters.
Pablo Morrugares, the editor of PM Noticias, was at dinner Sunday evening when a gunman opened fire and killed him on the spot. He was accompanied by his bodyguard who was also shot dead.
Morrugares’ PM Noticias focused primarily on reporting crime in the central Guerrero state, which the US State Department has labeled the region a “Level 4: Do Not Travel.” In fact, the state is one of Mexico’s most violent cartel infested regions.
PM Noticias’ Facebook account published a post late Sunday that read: “We are in mourning at PM News but the page will continue with its legacy of our dear friend Pablito.”
Reuters notes Morrugares survived a 2016 assassination. The motive behind Sunday’s slaying of the reporter is unknown, but one can only suspect it’s due to the newspaper’s reporting on local crime.
The Mexican Association of Displaced and Attacked Journalists said Morrugares was recently threatened. Fellow journalists are in shock over his death.
Reporters Without Borders, an international non-profit organization that safeguards the right to freedom of information, indicate three other journalists have been killed in Mexico this year.
Reporters Without Borders released a report in 2018 that described Afghanistan, Syria, Mexico, Yemen, and India as the most dangerous areas for reporters.
Besides cartel wars and out of control murders, Mexico is recording the third-highest COVID-19 deaths in the world.