Thursday, August 25, 2011

An abducted Mexican journalist has been found shot dead north of Culiacan, in northwestern Sinaloa state

Humberto Millan Salazar, who edited an online newspaper and presented a news program on local radio, had been kidnapped by armed men. The journalists' welfare group Committee to Protect Journalists says that 58 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 1992. It says that 25 of those were murdered in direct reprisal for their work. Millan Salazar, 53, was stopped by masked armed men as he was leaving his house in a residential area of Culiacan. He was on his way to the Culiacan studios of Radio Formula, where he presented the morning news program. He was also the editor of online newspaper A Discusion. According to the United Nations, Mexico is the most dangerous country for journalists to work in. Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Freedom of Speech Gustavo Salas said that 13 journalists had disappeared across the country since 2000. The state of Sinaloa, where Millan Salazar was killed, is the power base of the Sinaloa drug cartel, considered to be the most powerful criminal organization in the country. The killing of Millan Salazar comes less than a month after crime reporter Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz was found dead. Ordaz, who worked for the Notiver newspaper, had her throat cut after being abducted in Veracruz state.

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