- The crime of Pedro Pablo Kumul is the 19th so far this year.

- They have denounced the disappearance of Francisco Hernández Elvira.

Members of the municipal police and expert agents inspect a crime scene where the Mexican journalist Pedro Pablo Kumul was murdered, in Xalapa (Veracruz) on November 22, 2022.

A journalist is shot dead and another disappears in the Mexican state of Veracruz

Journalist Pedro Pablo Kumul was shot to death on Monday in the city of Xalapa, capital of the southeastern Mexican state of Veracruz, the outlet he worked for reported Tuesday. Also in Veracruz, journalist Francisco Hernández Elvira was reported missing on Tuesday.

If it is confirmed that the murder of the reporter and also a taxi driver was due to his journalistic work, Kumul would be the nineteenth communicator assassinated in Mexico so far this year, according to figures from the Inter-American Press Association (SIP).

The journalist was a reporter and announcer for AX Noticias, a social media outlet that reported his murder on Tuesday through a statement and demanded that the governor of the state of Veracruz, Cuitláhuac García, investigate the event to find those responsible for the crime.

Asesinan al periodista Pedro Pablo Kumul en Xalapa, Veracruz. Ya son 18 comunicadores asesinados solo este año. pic.twitter.com/Nk9KQFLCnT

— Brenda Peña (@Bren_PenaBello) November 22, 2022

"We regret the terrible event that happened this afternoon in the town of Castillo where our friend, announcer, and reporter for this media outlet, AX Noticias, and Es Amor 104.5 HD, lost his life," the outlet reported in its message.

The event took place on Monday afternoon in the town of El Castillo when, according to local media reports, he was shot several times while driving the taxi in which he also worked, which ended up crashing into a light pole and where he was found. lifeless.

At the time of the events, Kumul was accompanied by his sentimental partner, who was saved from the attack.

The alleged murderers, according to the same media, fled the scene of the event before the members of the Ministry of Public Security (SSP), Civil Force, and Federal Forces arrived.

"At AX Multimedios we unite in prayer and accompany our partner's family with great love and respect," added the media outlet where the deceased worked.

On the death of Kumul, the leader of the political party Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) in the Senate, Clemente Castañeda, "strongly" condemned the murder on his Twitter account.

"Freedom of expression should not be a danger in Mexico or anywhere, I join the demands for justice," he said.

Disappearance of Francisco Hernández Elvira

The journalist Francisco Hernández Elvira was also reported missing on Tuesday in the state of Veracruz. Family and friends reported this Tuesday that the whereabouts of the coordinator of Radio Azúcar FM and president of the Club of Journalists of the municipality of Isla, an agricultural region in southern Veracruz, has been unknown since last Sunday.

Francisco Hernández Elvira presidente del Club de Periodistas en Ciudad Isla, está desaparecido desde el pasado 20 de noviembre.

Se dirigía a la #Cdmx.@GobiernoVer @CuitlahuacGJ @GobCDMX @SEGOB_mx @article19mex @RSF_esp @ONUDHmexico @gpplural @ahora_mx pic.twitter.com/Pav06G92W3

— Emilio Álvarez Icaza Longoria (@EmilioAlvarezI) November 23, 2022

The first police reports revealed that the communicator was allegedly deprived of his liberty by a group of criminals. In addition, his relatives reported that his apartment had been raided, his belongings had been turned upside down, and his pet had been murdered. The State Commission for the Search for Persons issued, shortly after 8:00 p.m. local time (02:00 GMT), an official search file for the communicator.

155 journalists murdered since 2000

According to the count of the Inter-American Press Association, there are already 19 journalists and media workers murdered in Mexico in 2022.

With the latter, there are 155 communicators killed in possible connection with their journalistic work in the country since the year 2000, according to the organization Article 19.

Veracruz is considered one of the most dangerous regions in Mexico and the world to practice journalism. According to statistics from the State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists, 28 journalists have been murdered during the governments of governors Javier Duarte (2010-2016), Miguel Ángel Yunes (2017-2018), and Cuitláhuac García (currently in functions).

The entity has been immersed in a spiral of violence related to the operation of drug cartels and their fight by the State, which has left a trail of hundreds of murders, disappearances, and clandestine graves.

In the last decade (2011-2021), a total of 642 clandestine graves have been located throughout the Veracruz territory, according to an official count obtained through transparency. The Veracruz State Attorney General's Office reported in that period a total of 609 bodies recovered in the graves, 381 heads, and more than 56,000 human remains.

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