It denounces culture of impunity in Mexico
MIAMI, Florida (May 6, 2015)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed outrage at the murder of reporter Armando Saldaña Morales in Veracruz, Mexico, and urged the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the crime. At the same time it voiced its concern with the climate of impunity in the country, given the violence there.
Saldaña, 53, hosted a news program broadcast by radio station La Ke Buena 100.9 FM in Tierra Blanca and lived in the nearby town of Tezonapa, both in Veracruz State. His body, with signs of having been beaten and with four bullet wounds, was found in the neighboring state of Oaxaca.
IAPA President Gustavo Mohme, editor of the Lima, Peru, newspaper La República, declared, “We are seeing another murder which based in our experience could run the risk of going unpunished and without justice being done, like so many other cases in Mexico, where violence and inaction by authorities are what set the rules of the game.”
Saldaña had been kidnapped on Saturday (May 2), along with others. His body was found two days later by a group of peasants on the bank of a stream in the Oaxaca state town of Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa, where organized crime has maintained a violent presence in recent years.
The chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, said, “We urge the Mexican government to comply with its obligation to investigate urgently and in-depth, and severely punish the perpetrators and masterminds.”
Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, added, “It is a matter of urgency to put an end to the culture of violence that is harming the very bases of human rights and democracy.”
According to information gathered by the IAPA’s Rapid Response Unit in Mexico, Saldaña had not received any threat and was a journalist known in the region for his collaborations with various media, among them El Mundo and El Sol of Córdoba, La Crónica of Tierra Blanca, Radio Max and recently the La Ke Buena station.
In his news items and commentary Saldaña often referred to organized crime, therefore the authorities have not ruled out any theory, including the possibility that his murder is linked to his work as a journalist.
MIAMI, Florida (May 6, 2015)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed outrage at the murder of reporter Armando Saldaña Morales in Veracruz, Mexico, and urged the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the crime. At the same time it voiced its concern with the climate of impunity in the country, given the violence there.
Saldaña, 53, hosted a news program broadcast by radio station La Ke Buena 100.9 FM in Tierra Blanca and lived in the nearby town of Tezonapa, both in Veracruz State. His body, with signs of having been beaten and with four bullet wounds, was found in the neighboring state of Oaxaca.
IAPA President Gustavo Mohme, editor of the Lima, Peru, newspaper La República, declared, “We are seeing another murder which based in our experience could run the risk of going unpunished and without justice being done, like so many other cases in Mexico, where violence and inaction by authorities are what set the rules of the game.”
Saldaña had been kidnapped on Saturday (May 2), along with others. His body was found two days later by a group of peasants on the bank of a stream in the Oaxaca state town of Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa, where organized crime has maintained a violent presence in recent years.
The chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, said, “We urge the Mexican government to comply with its obligation to investigate urgently and in-depth, and severely punish the perpetrators and masterminds.”
Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, added, “It is a matter of urgency to put an end to the culture of violence that is harming the very bases of human rights and democracy.”
According to information gathered by the IAPA’s Rapid Response Unit in Mexico, Saldaña had not received any threat and was a journalist known in the region for his collaborations with various media, among them El Mundo and El Sol of Córdoba, La Crónica of Tierra Blanca, Radio Max and recently the La Ke Buena station.
In his news items and commentary Saldaña often referred to organized crime, therefore the authorities have not ruled out any theory, including the possibility that his murder is linked to his work as a journalist.
