Lourdes Maldonado López was shot Sunday night outside of her home in Tijuana, the third journalist to be killed in Mexico this month.
An independent journalist, she made headlines in 2019 when she told Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during a press conference that she was in the middle of a labor dispute with her former employer, PSN, and feared for her life. At the time, PSN's owner, Jaime Bonilla Valdez, was running for governor of Baja California as part of the ruling Morena party, and Maldonado asked López Obrador for his "support, help, and labor justice."
Last week, Maldonado won a lawsuit she filed against PSN for wrongful termination, and the company was ordered to pay her back wages. When asked about Maldonado's death on Monday, López Obrador called it "very unfortunate." He said it was too early in the investigation to know if her murder was connected to the labor dispute, and said the killings will only end "when we all move forward to purify public life so that materialism doesn't dominate, so ambition, ego, and hate are set aside."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In 2020, more journalists were killed in Mexico than anywhere else in the world, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. At least four members of the media were the victims of targeted killings, the organization said, and a fifth was shot and killed after taking pictures of a crime scene. Mexico has an underfunded protection program for journalists, which is supposed to give them access to safe houses and bodyguard services. Maldonado was part of the program in 2021, but was still attacked multiple times, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Prior to Maldonado's murder, photojournalist Margarito Martínez was shot and killed on Jan. 17 outside of his home in Tijuana. Earlier this month, reporter and editor José Luis Gamboa was stabbed to death in Veracruz state. Their murders are under investigation.
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
October 5 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sitesSpeed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace planSpeed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Moldova gives decisive win to pro-EU partySpeed Read The country is now on track to join the European Union within five years
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
UK, 3 Western allies recognize Palestinian stateSpeed Read Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal formally recognized the state of Palestine
-
Russia slams Kyiv, hits government buildingSpeed Read This was Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to USSpeed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
