MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The body of a slain journalist was found in northwestern Mexico, authorities said on Monday, adding to a long list of reporters who have fallen victim to record levels of violence in the country.
The corpse of Rafael Murua Manriquez, 34, was found late Sunday afternoon by the side of a road between the towns of Santa Rosalia and San Ignacio in the state of Baja California Sur, the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Murua’s body had wounds in the thorax, state prosecutors said, without giving more detail on the lesions.
According to the advocacy group Article 19, Murua was director of a community radio station in the state and had been in a program affording protection to journalists at risk since 2017.
The journalist’s death was the second to occur since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office on Dec. 1.
Article 19, which defends freedom of expression and access to information, has documented the murder of 122 journalists in Mexico since 2000. Murders in Mexico jumped by a third to more than 33,000 last year.
Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; and Leslie Adler