Eighth journalist murdered in Mexico this year
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Armando Linares, the director of Mexican news outlet Monitor Michoacan, was killed on Tuesday.
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Murdered director of Monitor Michoacan Armando Linares
According to the local prosecutor's office, the director of western Mexico news outlet Monitor Michoacan was slain on Tuesday; his death is the eighth murder of a journalist this year.
Armando Linares was murdered "this afternoon in a private home." according to the Michoacan prosecutor's office.
The murder comes only six weeks following the murder of Linares' colleague from the media outlet, Roberto Toledo.
Toledo's death in January was followed by Linares's denouncing of threats against the outlet for exposing corruption.
In a video, Linares said, "We are not armed, we do not bring weapons. Our only defense is a pen, a pencil."
Before Linares, Juan Carlos Muniz, Heber Lopez, Lourdes Maldonado, Margarito Martinez, Roberto Toledo, Jose Luis Gamboa, and Jorge Luis Camero were also murdered.
Michell Simon, a Mexican television broadcaster and model, was discovered dead in February as well.
According to Reporters without borders, Mexico, which has seen the murder of nearly 150 journalists since 2000, is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.
See this: Danger looms over Mexico’s journalists
In February, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador accused the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of "interfering" after he called for greater accountability over a string of journalist murders.
The public row with US President Joe Biden's administration comes after the killing of at least five journalists in 2022.
Last year, Mexico recorded 33,308 murders, marking a 3.6% decrease compared with 2020, in a country long plagued by drug cartel violence and US arms flow into the country.
