A Mexican journalist was stabbed to death in Veracruz

José luis Gamboa Arenas)

The first Mexican journalist to die of stab wounds this year was José Luis Gamboa, who was killed following an alleged assault in Veracruz, humanitarian organizations said today. The director of the digital newspaper Inforegio, Gabriel Gamboa, was found badly injured on a street in the Floresta neighborhood after an alleged assault. He was taken to a hospital, where he died on January 10. A full investigation of the journalist's death was requested by both CPJ and Reporters Without Borders.

Gamboa founded and edited the Inforegio news website, co-founded and edited La Noticia, and was active on his personal Facebook page, where he had about 7,500 followers, Twitter, where he had about 1,000 followers, and YouTube, where he had about 100 followers.

His most recent publications, before his death, were a YouTube video and a Facebook post discussing the Veracruz state government's alleged lack of response to organized crime and recent murders. His journalistic work cannot be ruled out as the motive behind his murder. 

By December, there had been 9 murders of journalists, three of which were retaliation for their informative work, although other cases are still being investigated to determine the motive.

Human rights defenders and journalists cannot escape the human rights crisis in Mexico. Alejandro Encinas, the Undersecretary for Human Rights, Population, and Migration of the Ministry of Interior, acknowledged in December that more than 90% of murder cases in Colombia go unpunished.

* This article contains information sourced from the Committee to Protect Journalists.