Thaindian News

Veracruz (Mexico), June 21 (IANS/EFE) Journalist Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco, who covered security issues, was gunned down along with his wife and son in Veracruz, a port city on Mexico’s Gulf coast, officials said.

The 55-year-old Lopez Velasco, known as Milo Vela, was killed Monday at his residence in the city, located about 300 km east of Mexico City, Veracruz state officials said.

Gunmen broke into the journalist’s house in the Playa Linda section of Veracruz around 6 a.m. and killed him, his wife, Agustina Solano, and their son, Misael Lopez Solana, 21.

Lopez Velasco worked for the daily Notiver, which has the largest circulation in this part of Mexico, covering security matters and drug trafficking.

The newspaper expressed regret over the triple-murder and called on officials to clear up the case in an article posted on its web site.

“Notiver demands a quick and clear investigation that follows the law to immediately find those responsible for this triple-murder and punish them with the full weight of the law, regardless of who goes down,” the newspaper said.

Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte de Ochoa condemned the killings and ordered Attorney General Reynaldo Escobar Perez to investigate the case thoroughly and clear up what happened as soon as possible.

The state government supports the work of journalists and there is no tolerance in Veracruz for crime and impunity, the governor said in a statement.

The Lopez Velasco case “will be investigated until the final consequences”, Duarte said.

The governor later visited the Notiver offices, where he expressed his condolences to the slain journalist’s colleagues and assured them this was an attack against Veracruz’s society and not just against a member of the press.

“This is not an isolated incident, it is part of a series of actions and is linked to the presence of criminal organisations. This reflects what is happening across the country and Veracruz, obviously, is not escaping these actions,” Duarte said.

Since 2000, 68 journalists have been murdered and 13 others have gone missing in Mexico, the National Human Rights Commission, or CNDH, Mexico’s equivalent of an ombudsman’s office, said in a report released last month to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Mexico has become one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists in the past few years, and the most dangerous country for members of the media in Latin America, non-governmental organizations say.

Authorities have not solved any of the cases of the journalists listed as missing since 2005 in Mexico, the Inter American Press Association, or IAPA, said in a report released last November.

–IANS/EFE
rd