Woman Journalist Killed in Drive-by Shooting in Veracruz

"MX" for Borderland Beat

María Elena Ferral

María Elena Ferral, an investigative journalist based in Veracruz, died from her injuries on Monday after two gunmen on a motorcycle shot her eight times as she left from the notary's public office in Papantla. The attack occurred in broad daylight in Papantla's downtown. The perpetrators remain at large.

Ferral worked for El Diario de Xalapa newspaper and the online news site Quinto Poder de Veracruz, where she covered corruption, kidnappings, political assassinations and other organized crime topics. According to her relatives, Ferral was subject to multiple death threats from a regional politician and told her colleagues that if she was ever killed it was because of that politician.

Murder

The attack occurred in downtown Papantla at around 2 p.m. on 30 March 2020. Ferral was shot eight times by at least two gunmen; the bullets impacted her thorax, stomach and head. She was quickly rushed to a local hospital where doctors performed an emergency surgery to stop her bleeding and remove the bullet casings.

Once the surgery was over, she was transferred to the city of Poza Rica for intensive care. However, Ferral passed away later that evening at around 9 p.m. The suspects, however, were not identified since they were wearing ski-masks. They are currently at large.

Background

Ferral worked for the El Diario de Xalapa, a leading newspaper in Veracruz. She was also the founder of the online website Quinto Poder de Veracruz, where she covered corruption and crime-related topics. In her publications, she blamed the local police for kidnappings and forced disappearances in the area. In addition, she also covered political assassinations and identified four people who were murdered after aspiring for mayor in the municipality of Gutiérrez Zamora.

In 2016, she started receiving death threats from Camerino Basilio Picazo Pérez, a politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in Veracruz. He had served as the mayor of Coyutla and was a suspect in the murder of municipal official Miguel Alfonso Vázquez in 2005. The case was never solved and Picazo Pérez continued his political career.

Camerino Basilio Picazo Pérez (source: Congress of Veracruz)

Ferral told her colleagues of Picazo Pérez's death threats and sent them multiple emails in 2016, 2017 and 2018 telling them that if she was ever killed it was because of Picazo Pérez. "If they murder me, I want Camerino Basilio Picazo Pérez to be considered the one responsible for it", she wrote in one of her emails. Ferral asked her colleagues to publicize all of her emails if she was ever killed.

In addition, Ferral's daughter once overheard Picazo Pérez telling others that he planned to kill Ferral. This occurred in a restaurant where Ferral's daughter was eating. Picazo Pérez was not aware that Ferral's daugther was there. Picazo Pérez was eating at the restaurant with his wife Dolores Gutiérrez Saavedra, son and an armed man.

Following the death threats, Ferral went to the Veracruz State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists (CEAPP) to seek assistance. The state government granted her a bodyguard and a GPS device. However, these benefits were removed without notice in 2017 after authorities stated that Ferral was not making "good use" of them. 

Reactions and aftermath

Ferral's death was condenmed by local media outlets, the national media and international press freedom organizations. In Veracruz, many of her family, friends and colleagues took the streets in protest.

Protesters in Xalapa condeming Ferral's murder (source: Plumas Libres)

They blocked one of the avenues in between Poza Rica and Tuxpan to bring attention to the case. With banners reading "Justice" and "Not One More", the protesters asked authorities to arrest those responsible for the murder.

Ferral was buried in Papantla's municipal cemetery yesterday. Hundreds of people attended her funeral. While her funeral took place, other people protested her murder in other cities Veracruz, including Xalapa, Alamo and Acayucan. 

Press freedom in Mexico

Her death marks the first murder of a journalist in Mexico in 2020. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), at least 19 media workers were killed in Mexico last year. Mexico ranks 144 out of 180 on the RSF's press freedom rankings.

Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to exercise journalism as a profession. Though the figures are often conflicting, press freedom organizations around the world collectively agree that over 100 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000. Dozens more remain disappeared.

Like in most criminal cases in Mexico, the vast majority of these incidents remain unsolved and with few perpetrators arrested and/or convicted.

Note: Multiple sources were used for this report. For better readability, they are linked in the body paragraphs above.