Mexican journalist Kristian Zavala killed
after seeking state protection
By Committee to Protect Journalists
HAVANA TIMES – Authorities must credibly investigate the March 2 shooting of journalist Kristian Zavala, who is the third press member to be killed in Mexico this year, despite his 2021 request for federal protection, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
Zavala, founder and editor of the Facebook-based news outlet El Silaoense MX, and another man were shot by two unknown assailants on a motorcycle while driving along a highway in the central Mexican city of Silao, Silao authorities said. The killers’ motive is unknown.
“The shocking killing of Kristian Zavala is the third fatal attack on journalists in Mexico this year, cementing its catastrophic record as the deadliest nation in the Western Hemisphere for the press,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “These killings are fueled by impunity, which Mexican authorities must do much more to root out.”
Zavala was enrolled in a protection program overseen by the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, a federal government agency that has come under criticism for not offering sufficient safeguards.
Zavala, who covered local politics and security, requested government protection in 2021 after receiving threats, Mexican media reported. CPJ was unable to confirm whether the 28-year-old journalist was still under state protection at the time of his death.
The State Attorney General’s Office is investigating the killing.
Mexico has long been one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists and ranked fourth on CPJ’s 2024 Global Impunity Index, which measures where murderers of journalists are most likely to go free.
In January, reporter Calletano de Jesús Guerrero and editor Alejandro Gallegos León were also killed.
A 2024 report by CPJ and Amnesty International found that Mexico’s Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists consistently failed to protect the press.
An official with the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment via messaging app.