Mexican Journalist Killed Minutes After Interviewing City Mayor About 'Mysterious Fire'

Mexico is among the most dangerous places in the world for journalists to carry out their jobs, with 167 killed or disappeared since 2000. The figure increased this week after Mauricio Cruz Solis was shot dead on Tuesday in the city of Uruapan, Michoacan.

Solis, who was a host on a local radio station known as "La Poderosa Uruapan" was killed during the attack while one other person was wounded, the local prosecutor's office said. He had just finished interviewing Mayor Carlos Manzo after what has been described as a "mysterious fire" that engulfed a local market. Local media outlet Blog del Narco Mexico said he was "executed by cowardly hitmen" who then ran away.

Apart from being a radio host, Cruz Solis was also a writer for Minuto x Minuto outlet. He is the eight journalist killed in Michoacan since 2000, according to Articulo 19, a nonpartisan organization that promotes and defends freedom of expression and access to information in Mexico.

Different groups and associations mourned and denounced Cruz Solis's killing, with top journalist Jorge Ramos calling

Acording to data from Articulo 19, violence against journalist was historically high during the Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) administration. A total of 47 journalists were murdered or went missing between 2018 and 2024, the same number of victims as Enrique Peña Nieto's administration between 2012 and 2018.

Cruz Solis's murder is the first of a journalist under the government of Claudia Sheinbaum, who was sworn in on Oct. 1. However, as CBS News reports, there have been other attacks on members of the media since she took office.

On Oct. 18, gunmen shot at the front of the El Debate newspaper's office in Culiacan. A day later, a delivery worker with the outlet was abducted by presumed criminal groups. No information about his whereabouts has been released.

Veracruz is the entity with the most deaths of media members since 2000, with 31 murders reported, more than double of any other Mexican state, according to Artículo 19.

Media workers continue to be regularly targeted all throughout Mexico, often in direct reprisal for their work covering topics like corruption and activities pertaining to cartels and other criminal organizations. With Cruz Solis, there have now been four murders reported against journalists in Mexico so far this year.

"Impunity is the norm in crimes against the press," the the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report on Mexico in March.

Data from the international nonprofit Reporters Without Borders ranked Mexico as the third most dangerous place for journalists to carry out their profession. According to the organization's 2023 rankings, Irak and Syria are the only places in the world where journalists are being targeted at a higher rate than in Mexico.