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León KrauzeGlobal Opinions contributing columnistJanuary 11, 2024 at 6:45 a.m. ESTCiro Gómez Leyva, journalist and host of the news program in the morning on Radio Formula, on Sept. 22, 2020. (El Universal Agency/AP) (El Universal Agency)Listen4 minShareComment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave
On Dec. 15, 2022, Ciro Gómez Leyva, one of Mexico’s most prominent journalists, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Mexico City. Two men on a motorcycle fired directly at his armored SUV as he was driving. Were it not for the advanced armored glass, the bullets would have surely killed him.
WpGet the full experience.Choose your planArrowRightIn a country where practicing independent journalism often amounts to a death sentence, the execution of such a long-respected figure in the streets of the capital would have been a watershed moment. While the country has mourned the loss of extraordinary journalists known for their courage and talent, none have had Gómez Leyva’s national visibility.
Mexico is fortunate that Gómez Levya survived his ordeal. But this narrow miss should not obscure the toxic political dynamic that continues to put journalists at such risk in the country.
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Authorities have arrested 16 people related to the attempt on Gómez Leyva’s life, and 13 are facing charges. But the person or persons responsible for ordering the hit remain unknown. “I have no idea who tried to kill me,” Gómez Leyva told me recently. “I have plenty of theories, but not one single fact to point me in the right direction. I don’t know who did, why they did it or to what end.”
According to Article 19, an international organization that protects journalists, 163 journalists have been murdered in the country since 2000. In the past two years alone, 18 journalists were killed, including prominent local figures such as Tijuana’s Lourdes Maldonado, who personally sought protection from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
But rather than defuse the alarming hostility against journalism, Mexico’s president has fanned the flames. Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement, asking López Obrador’s government to halt what it called “constant verbal attacks on reporters.”
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“(They) must stop before they lead to further violence against the press,” CPJ Mexico’s representative Jan-Albert Hootsen warned. López Obrador has ignored such pleas.
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On Jan. 2, during one of his daily morning news conferences, Mexico’s president once again went after Gómez Leyva. Journalists like Gómez Leyva, López Obrador said, “make so much money, and they discredit their noble craft.”
Then he went further, gesturing at the pressure he exerts on media owners critical of his government. “They claim they can’t handle Ciro [Gómez Leyva] because he is ‘independent.’ No one buys that!” López Obrador said, publicly naming the owners of the radio and television stations that employ Gómez Leyva.
Gómez Leyva told me that López Obrador’s words, and his decision to call out the media owners by name, should be clearly understood as an admonition: “Either you control him, or we will.” In his public news conferences, the president endeavors to dictate the media narrative by pressuring and intimidating journalists and those who employ them.
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“For five years, the president has utilized his power and the government’s resources to insult and defame journalists with the sole purpose of intimidating and corralling us,” Gómez Leyva says. “It’s nothing more than a sustained and systematic aggression on journalism.”
López Obrador is showing no signs of easing up. On Wednesday, he went after Carlos Loret de Mola, another renowned journalist with a national audience who recently published an investigation on an apparent corruption ring around López Obrador’s sons. “I want to know how much money he makes,” López Obrador demanded. “At least 1 million pesos a month (60 thousand USD), I’m sure.”
This form of coercive behavior from those in power is both a distinctive trait of authoritarianism and a grim omen for Mexican democracy, especially in an electoral year.
In June, the future of independent and critical journalism will be on the ballot. In a country besieged by crime and corruption, Mexico’s electorate should carefully consider the value of a free press.
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On Dec. 15, 2022, Ciro Gómez Leyva, one of Mexico’s most prominent journalists, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Mexico City. Two men on a motorcycle fired directly at his armored SUV as he was driving. Were it not for the advanced armored glass, the bullets would have surely killed him.
In a country where practicing independent journalism often amounts to a death sentence, the execution of such a long-respected figure in the streets of the capital would have been a watershed moment. While the country has mourned the loss of extraordinary journalists known for their courage and talent, none have had Gómez Leyva’s national visibility.
Mexico is fortunate that Gómez Levya survived his ordeal. But this narrow miss should not obscure the toxic political dynamic that continues to put journalists at such risk in the country.
Authorities have arrested 16 people related to the attempt on Gómez Leyva’s life, and 13 are facing charges. But the person or persons responsible for ordering the hit remain unknown. “I have no idea who tried to kill me,” Gómez Leyva told me recently. “I have plenty of theories, but not one single fact to point me in the right direction. I don’t know who did, why they did it or to what end.”
According to Article 19, an international organization that protects journalists, 163 journalists have been murdered in the country since 2000. In the past two years alone, 18 journalists were killed, including prominent local figures such as Tijuana’s Lourdes Maldonado, who personally sought protection from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
But rather than defuse the alarming hostility against journalism, Mexico’s president has fanned the flames. Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement, asking López Obrador’s government to halt what it called “constant verbal attacks on reporters.”
“(They) must stop before they lead to further violence against the press,” CPJ Mexico’s representative Jan-Albert Hootsen warned. López Obrador has ignored such pleas.
On Jan. 2, during one of his daily morning news conferences, Mexico’s president once again went after Gómez Leyva. Journalists like Gómez Leyva, López Obrador said, “make so much money, and they discredit their noble craft.”
Then he went further, gesturing at the pressure he exerts on media owners critical of his government. “They claim they can’t handle Ciro [Gómez Leyva] because he is ‘independent.’ No one buys that!” López Obrador said, publicly naming the owners of the radio and television stations that employ Gómez Leyva.
Gómez Leyva told me that López Obrador’s words, and his decision to call out the media owners by name, should be clearly understood as an admonition: “Either you control him, or we will.” In his public news conferences, the president endeavors to dictate the media narrative by pressuring and intimidating journalists and those who employ them.
“For five years, the president has utilized his power and the government’s resources to insult and defame journalists with the sole purpose of intimidating and corralling us,” Gómez Leyva says. “It’s nothing more than a sustained and systematic aggression on journalism.”
López Obrador is showing no signs of easing up. On Wednesday, he went after Carlos Loret de Mola, another renowned journalist with a national audience who recently published an investigation on an apparent corruption ring around López Obrador’s sons. “I want to know how much money he makes,” López Obrador demanded. “At least 1 million pesos a month (60 thousand USD), I’m sure.”
This form of coercive behavior from those in power is both a distinctive trait of authoritarianism and a grim omen for Mexican democracy, especially in an electoral year.
In June, the future of independent and critical journalism will be on the ballot. In a country besieged by crime and corruption, Mexico’s electorate should carefully consider the value of a free press.
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