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Transcript/ScriptPRESS FREEDOM-MEXICO JOURNALISTS– TV
HEAD: 2022 a Deadly Year for Journalists in Mexico
TEASER: in First four months, 11 journalists have been assassinated
PUBLISHED AT: Wednesday, 05/11/2022 at 12:22 pm
BYLINE: Cristina Caicedo Smit
CONTRIBUTOR: Javier Hegar
DATELINE: Mexico City, Mexico
VIDEOGRAPHER: Javier Hegar
PRODUCER: Henry Hernandez
VIDEO SOURCE (S): All VOA
PLATFORMS: (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
SCRIPT EDITORS: Detzel, Mia Bush
TRT: 3:08
VID APPROVED BY: BR
UPDATE: Web Desk – Please post to Press Freedom Page))
((INTRO))
[[ Mexico has become a killing ground for journalists. As colleagues prepped to mourn last week’s death of Sinaloa reporter Luis Enrique Ramírez, authorities in Veracruz announced that two more – Yessenia Falconi and Sheila Olivera – were assassinated. Cristina Caicedo Smit has this report.]]
((WEB INTRO))
[[ Mexico has become a killing ground for journalists. As colleagues prepped to mourn last week’s death of Sinaloa reporter Luis Enrique Ramírez, authorities in Veracruz announced two more – Yessenia Falconi and Sheila Olivera – were assassinated. Cristina Caicedo Smit reports.]]
((NARRATOR))
So far in 2022, 11 journalists have been executed in Mexico. That includes the latest assassination of two female journalists for the online news site El Veraz in Cosoleacaque. The State Attorney General's Office launched an investigation.
Yessenia Falconi, director of the news portal, and her colleague Sheila Olivera were shot in their car in the parking lot of a store the afternoon of May 9.
((Víctor Hugo Gómez, Sur del Sur Veracruz Journalists Association President)) ((IN SPANISH))
“We urged the government of Veracruz, words are not enough, I think we need action.”
((NARRATOR))
The National Human Rights Commission said that beyond finding the killers, journalists need protection. That should include strengthening and expanding the so-called “Mechanism,” a law that provides protective services for journalists under threat.
Yessenia Falconi’s family says she received multiple death threats and calls demanding removal of crime stories from her news site. She also covered police corruption.
((Ramiro Mollinedo Falconi, Brother of Yessenia Falconi)) ((IN SPANISH))
“Above all, they killed a woman who always dared to tell the truth.”
((NARRATOR))
The killings in Veracruz came days after the body of journalist Luis Enrique Ramírez was found wrapped in black rubber on a dirt road in Sinaloa.
While an investigation continues, an autopsy provided some clues about how he died.
((Sara Bruna Quiñónez Estrada, Attorney General of the State of Sinaloa)) ((IN SPANISH))
“Once this is done, the person is taken to the forensic medical service, where an autopsy is performed, determining that he suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of blunt-force trauma.”
((NARRATOR))
Ramírez founded the news portal Fuentes Fidedignas in Culiacán and wrote a column in El Debate newspaper. Recent columns dealt with embezzlement, corruption and abuse of power.
((Sara Bruna Quiñónez Estrada, Attorney General of the State of Sinaloa))
((IN SPANISH))
“No line of investigation will be ruled out, especially those related to his work.”
((NARRATOR))
In Mexico City, data from the Committee to Protect Journalists says Mexico is the deadliest country for journalists this year, next to war-torn Ukraine.
((Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ Representative in Mexico))
“Even though the country is not officially on a state of war, at least in a conventional sense, it does show numbers that are keen to war zoned and, in many cases, even above war zones. I think only below Ukraine, which is a very extreme situation in the world this year. But it tells us that the situation of impunity and violence in Mexico is extreme.”
((NARRATOR))
Journalists in northern Mexico’s Sinaloa state took to the streets to demand change from the toxic brew of criminal cartels, corruption and impunity in the province.
((María de los Ángeles Moreno, Journalist in Sinaloa)) ((IN SPANISH))
“The only thing left for us in the face of impotence and the situation we saw is to ask for justice.”
((NARRATOR))
In the last six years, says the free-speech group Article 19, attacks against the press are up 160 percent. Freedom of expression and information in Mexico are under serious – and mortal – threat.
((Cristina Caicedo Smit, VOA News))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline) Mexico City, Mexico
Embargo DateMay 11, 2022 17:07 EDT
Byline((Cristina Caicedo Smit, VOA News))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
