The Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN-DH) condemned this Wednesday the shooting of journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís, in Michoacán, the fifth crime documented in 2024, and urged the authorities to “conduct a prompt and effective investigation.”
Cruz Solís was shot dead on Tuesday night in the center of the municipality of Uruapan after conducting a live interview with Mayor Carlos Manzo about the fire caused by unknown causes in 66 premises in the Tariacuri market.
The deputy representative in Mexico of the UN-DH, Jesús Peña Palacios, said that the crime “has a deep impact” after being “perpetrated in the heart of the city of Uruapan,” and noted that it is “important to work on strategies to prevent attacks against the press.”
“Mauricio is at least the fifth journalist murdered this year in the country, a strong reminder of the need to continue strengthening protection agencies and the capacity for institutional response,” said Peña Palacios.
Cruz Solís, 25, was the director of the news portal ‘Minuto x Minuto’, hosted the news program Enlace Informativo, on the Radiorama station, and was a reporter for the newspapers ABC and La Opinión, both in Michoacán.
The UN-DH recalled in a statement that the journalist had warned in several broadcasts that, due to his journalistic work, he had suffered security incidents that were reported to the authorities.
“His murder is a call to defend the right to information and freedom of expression in Mexico,” said the organization.
The crime of Cruz Solís is the fifth recorded this year in the country, after that of journalists Alejandro Martínez Noguez, on August 4, in Guanajuato; Víctor Alfonso Culebro Morales, on June 28, in Chiapas, and Roberto Carlos Figueroa Bustos, on April 26, in Morelos.
In addition to the murder of Roberto Carlos Figueroa Bustos, who disappeared on April 26 in Cuernavaca, Morelos, and whose body was found lifeless the same day in Huitzilac, the organization noted.
The call from the UN-DH was added to that of other organizations, such as the Inter-American Press Association (SIP), which urged the government of Claudia Sheinbaum to take measures so that this and other crimes against journalists do not go unpunished.
Source: forbes
