Missing Mexican journalist found dead with throat slit

Missing Mexican journalist found dead with throat slit

2011-07-28 13:16:02 GMT+7 (ICT)

VERACRUZ, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) – The body of Mexican journalist Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz, who had disappeared on Sunday from the Gulf coast city of Veracruz, was found dead on Tuesday, the non-governmental watchdog Reporters without borders said.

Ordaz, a crime reporter and columnist for the regional daily Notiver in the east-coast port city of Veracruz, was found with her throat slit near the offices of the Imagen del Golfo newspaper. She was found about 48 hours after her abduction on Sunday.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Ordaz is the third journalist to be killed this year in Veracruz, making it the deadliest Mexican state for the media so far this year. She is also the second Notiver journalist murdered in just over a month. Notiver's editorial director, Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco, was killed along with his wife and son on June 20.

Authorities said Ordaz's body was found near a sign that read "Friends also betray. Sincerely, Carranza." Juan Carlos Carranza Saavedra was previously identified by the state prosecutor as the person who murdered López and his family in June.

In this case, as in most of the previous ones, the state prosecutor's office immediately ruled out any link with her work as a journalist, but said investigators were working on the theory that it had something to do with her "links to organized crime," said Reporters without Borders.

The press watchdog added: "In a climate fraught with suspicion and self-censorship, there is an urgent need for mechanisms to protect journalists." A new federal security agreement to protect journalist was signed last November but it has not been implemented yet.

According to the International Press Institute, seven Mexican journalists have been murdered since the start of 2011, which makes Mexico the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists this year. Only Iraq, with eight, has seen more journalists' deaths in 2011.

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