MEXICO CITY, March 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The director of western Mexico news outlet Monitor Michoacan was murdered Tuesday, according to local prosecutor’s office — his death marks the eighth killing of a media worker in the country so far in 2022.
In a statement, the Michoacan prosecutor’s office said Armando Linares was murdered “this afternoon in a private home.”
Linares’ murder came just six weeks after one of his colleagues at the Monitor Michoacan, Roberto Toledo, was also murdered.
After Toledo’s death on Jan 31, Linares denounced threats against him and his team for having exposed corruption. “We are not armed, we do not bring weapons. Our only defense is a pen, a pencil,” Linares said in a video.
Linares is the eighth journalist murdered so far this year in Mexico, one of the most dangerous countries for media workers, according to Reporters Without Borders and Article 19.
Before him, Juan Carlos Muniz, Heber Lopez, Lourdes Maldonado, Margarito Martinez, Roberto Toledo, Jose Luis Gamboa and Jorge Luis Camero were also killed.
According to Reporters Without Borders, some 150 journalists have been slain in Mexico since 2000. — NNN-AGENCIES
