Mexico: Radio journalist shot dead, second media person killed this year

Mexico City: The Latin American country has become one of the world’s deadliest countries for reporters, after a Mexican radio journalist was shot dead Saturday at a restaurant in Tabasco, in the east of the capital city, the local media reported.

The victim, named Jesus Ramos Rodriguez, killed in the town of Emiliano Zapata, had hosted news bulletins on radio for over a decade.

Chennel NewsAsia quoted the Mexican newspaper El Universal daily as stating that eyewitnesses had seen the alleged attacker stepping out of a car and started shooting at Rodriguez from a point-blank range more than eight times.

The drug war and political corruption in the country have fuelled up violence and crime lately. More than 100 journalists have been reportedly assassinated in Mexico since 2000, with 10 killed last year alone.

International non-profit organisation ‘Reporters Without Borders’ in 2018 had ranked the Latin American country as the third-most-dangerous country for journalists, after Afghanistan and Syria.

However, most of the criminal cases in the country are dispersed without proper punishment.

Jesus Ramos Rodriguez is the second journalist after Rafael Murua was found dead in a ditch in January.

Murua, who had received death threats for his work, was found dead after being reported missing. He had been under the Mexican government's protection program for journalists and rights activists.