Mexico condemns death of journalist in Baja California

Mexico's Human Rights Commission (CNDH) on Saturday condemned the killing of a police beat reporter in western Mexico, the latest in a string of journalists shot down in acts that may be connected to their work.

73-year-old reporter Maximino RodrÍguez was gunned down while in his car in a shopping center parking lot on Friday afternoon in the state capital of La Paz, about 100 miles (160 km) from the beach resort of Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur.

A native of Guanajuato, Rodríguez was a journalist with news and opinion website Colectivo Pericú, Rodríguez was in the car with his wife, Raquel Romo, also a journalist, but she was not harmed when gunmen opened fire from a white pick-up truck, according to a report of the incident posted on the website.

He wrote the weekly column Es mi opinión (In my opinion), where he questioned the security strategies of justice agencies and warned about the lack of training and corruption of the police force in Baja California Penninsula.

State governor, Carlos Mendoza Davis, condemned the killing and noted that “all investigation lines will be exhausted” to find the perpetrators of this crime. He added that communication with the Minister of Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong and the Attorney General of Mexico, Raúl Cervantes, has been established so as to provide joint coordination for the investigation of the crime as well as to have all the federal security mechanisms set off for journalists in Mexico.

For her part, U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Roberta Jacobson, condemned the attack on her twitter account with two posts: “We regret the death of yet another journalist. Max Rodríguez in Baja California Sur.”

She added, “This is the fourth journalist killed thus far in the year.#You cannot silence truth by killing journalists”

Rodríguez is the fourth journalist killed in the last two months in Mexico, where organized crime and endemic corruption have contributed to the country's status as one of the most dangerous for journalists.

Since 2000, more than 120 Mexican journalists have been killed, according to data from the Human Rights Commission (CNDH).

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