Iguala, Guerrero: Journalist Pablo Morrugares and his Escort Assassinated

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Infobae / unotv


Pablo Morrugares Parraguirre, a journalist from Iguala, Guerrero, was murdered along with his escort, early this Sunday morning.

The director of the Iguala PM News digital portal was in the “Los Búfalos” bar when  several armed individuals arrived at the scene and shot the journalist and his companion.

Supposedly, since 2016 he had death threats from criminals, so he suffered an attack together with his wife, both of whom were unhurt and since then he had precautionary measures by the Protection mechanism of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Quadratín Guerrero reported that when he suffered that first attack, he was accused of having advised José Luis Abarca Velázquez when he was mayor of Iguala , and of initiating a media defense through marches, print media and social networks, after the arrest of the ex-mayor for the case of the 43 disappeared Normalistas from Ayotzinapa. 

                      Pablo Morrugares Parraguirre,  was the director of the Iguala PM News

                                                       Photo: PM Noticias Iguala

He also indicated that the bodies of the journalist and his escort were transferred to the Forensic Medical Service ( Semefo ) for the autopsy of the law. Until now it is known that his escort accompanied him, while the journalist was having dinner, just a few minutes after having made a live broadcast for his news portal.

It should be noted that, at the moment, the authorities of the entity have not issued any official version of the events. Meanwhile, the portal's social networks regretted what happened, asking that the case not go unpunished.

"Unfortunately, Pablo Morrugares was assassinated tonight and from this space we demand zero impunity from the authorities, we want justice for our comrade and that the guilty be punished. Rest in peace!"

It should be noted that according to El Debate , with Pablo there are five journalists killed in the entity so far in this administration.

Journalists killed in the administration of AMLO:

The organization Reporters Without Borders places the country 144th out of 180 countries in the 2019 World Press Freedom Ranking.

In 2018 , eight Mexican journalists were killed and it was the second country with the highest number of this crime below Afghanistan.

Until last April 11, there was a record of 15 journalists killed during the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Also, according to data from the non-governmental organization Article 19, defender of the rights of journalists, 99.3% of the murders of journalists are not investigated exhaustively and objectively.

Gabriel Soriano, host of a Guerrero Radio and Television ( RTG ) program, was executed in October 2018 when he was traveling in an official truck shortly after leaving an event led by Astudillo on the Boulevard de las Naciones, in Acapulco.

In August 2019, the journalist, Edgar Alberto Nava López , was killed in Zihuatanejo.

Meanwhile, in 2018, the Association of Journalists of the State of Guerrero ( APEG ) documented 33 attacks that journalists from this entity have suffered , most perpetrated by state and municipal authorities.

           

                                                    Foto: Isabel Mateos/Cuartoscuro

On July 17, the civil association Collective Analysis of Security with Democracy ( Casede ) alerted this Thursday of the lack of security for journalists in Mexico and of a certain normalization of violence against them by releasing the Freedom of Expression 2020 Report.

According to Article 19,  at least 132 journalists have been assassinated for their work since 2000,  and 13 of them in the current Administration that began its mandate in December 2018 and is expected to number 26.

For this reason, Rodríguez highlighted the "alert" that the existence of "zones of silence" implies  ,  that is, as he defined, parts of the country where journalists cannot practice their profession and where anything goes.

They vow to continually make alerts for the normalization of violence against journalists in Mexico.