Two journalists were killed in separate incidents in Mexico within 24 hours

MEXICO CITY — The U.N. human rights office in Mexico said Wednesday that journalists in Mexico need more protection after gunmen killed a man whose Facebook news page covered the violent state of Michoacán in western Mexico.

Less than 24 hours later, an entertainment reporter in the western city of Colima was murdered in a restaurant she owned.

Journalist Mauricio Solís of the news page Minuto por Minuto was shot and killed Tuesday night minutes after he interviewed the mayor of Uruapan (ooh-roo-WAH-pan) on the sidewalk. The State Prosecutor’s Office reported that one more person was wounded as a result of the shooting.

Solis had just finished an interview outside City Hall with Mayor Carlos Manso. Manzo told local media that he left and “after two minutes, I think, and only a few meters away, we heard shots, four or five shots.”

“We were looking for cover because we thought the attack was on us,” Manzo said. “A few minutes later we found out they attacked Mauricio.”

Manzo said he could not rule out a connection between the interview and the murder.

The UN human rights office said Solis was at least the fifth journalist killed in Mexico this year. It said he had previously reported security concerns related to his work. His Facebook page reported on community events and the drug cartel violence that gripped the city.

“His murder is a wake-up call for the protection of the right to information and freedom of expression in Mexico,” the office wrote.

Magnification number of journalists killed in Mexico were self-employed and reported to local Facebook and online news sites.

Uruapan is the closest major city to Michoacán’s avocado-growing region, and it has been the scene of drug cartel extortion and gang fighting. Cartels claim protection money from local avocado and lime orchardslivestock farms and almost any other business.

Solis had reported a suspicious fire at a local market just before the shooting. In gangs sometimes burned businesses that refuse to pay extortion.

Then Wednesday afternoon, reporter Patricia Ramirez Gonzalez was found with serious injuries at her Colima restaurant and died at the scene, according to the Colima State Attorney’s Office.

Local media reported that Ramirez, better known as Pati Bunbury, blogged about local entertainment and worked for a Colima newspaper.

The American Committee to Protect Journalists condemned both murders and called for transparent investigations.

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