Politics

Mexican artists paint mural to demand justice for murdered journalists

Mexico City, Feb 13 (EFE).- Several artists painted a mural in the central neighborhood of Roma in Mexico City on Sunday to demand justice for the six journalists killed in the country so far this year and the freedom of information.

Artist Gabriel Macotela organized the project to paint the fences of this place, where the artists had previously called for justice for the victims of femicide or for the missing through their art.

“The artists, the intellectuals, we are supporting these wonderful people who are the journalists, without them we would not know the reality, through them we know the reality of what happens,” Macotela told EFE.

The artists painted different motifs on the fences, wrote the names of the six journalists killed in 2022 and highlighted the concept of freedom.

“I am painting the Statue of Liberty that has been a fundamental icon of freedom, of the fundamental principles of what democracy is and I think that is what we are losing, a democratic country,” one of the artists, Javier Córdoba, said.

Visual artist Magali Ávila said that the paintings on the fences speak of fear and the media.

“I think there is too much fear of expressing what is really happening and that is why we are also very uninformed,” she said.

Macotela also pointed out that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was being “very intolerant” of journalists.

“They’re not being respected, I find it incredible, I did not expect such a response from the president, and that is why we are here,” he said, in reference to the president’s repeated criticisms of certain media and journalists during his regular morning press conference.

At his daily press briefing on Friday, López Obrador disclosed the alleged salary of journalist Carlos Loret de Mola, who posted afterwards on Twitter that “the president is enraged, he is beside himself.”

There was an outpouring of support for the journalist as Twitter space #TodossomosLoret (we are all Loret) gathered 60,000 participants.

“Despite the violence against media in the country, where six journalists have been killed so far this year, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday described several journalists as ‘mercenaries’ and exhibited the salary of (TV) presenter Carlos Loret de Mola,” the non-profit Article 19 said.

From 2000 to date, Article 19 has documented 149 murders of journalists in Mexico possibly in connection with their work, including 137 men and 12 women.

Of these, 47 were recorded during the term of former President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) and 29 during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term. EFE

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