Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday promised “zero impunity” for the fifth murder of a journalist this year in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters.
Heber Lopez Vazquez, who ran a news website called Noticias Web in the southern state of Oaxaca, was shot dead in his car on Thursday.
Two suspects were arrested as they tried to flee the scene of the crime, according to prosecutors.
“There’s no impunity — zero impunity,” Lopez Obrador told reporters.
“And this is a message for those who are dedicated to crime, both organized and the white collar,” he said.
Deputy Security Minister Ricardo Mejia said that “all lines of investigation are being pursued” to determine the motive behind the murder.
Lopez was not receiving protection under a government program for journalists in danger, he said.
His death brings the number of journalists killed in Mexico this year to five, according to press rights groups, a particularly bloody start to the year.
At least seven journalists were murdered in Mexico last year, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), although it is not known whether all of the killings were linked to their work.
Mexican authorities said Wednesday that three men had been arrested over the murder of journalist Lourdes Maldonado last month in Tijuana that sparked calls for the government to do more to protect media workers.
Her death came in the wake of the shooting of photographer Margarito Martinez in the same northwestern border city.
Roberto Toledo, who worked with a news site in the central state of Michoacan, as well as Jose Luis Gamboa, a journalist and social media activist in eastern Veracruz state, were also killed in January.
