TIJUANA (Mexico) – Mexican photojournalist Margarito Martínez Esquivel was shot to death this Monday outside his home in the city of Tijuana.
The photojournalist known as “the 4-4”, who collaborated with different local print and digital media, had entered the Protection Protocol for Journalists after a man accused them on social networks and without foundations, to collaborate with some portals that advocate organized crime.
According to the first reports, Martínez Esquivel was next to a vehicle outside his home when a person shot him several times. occasions, to later flee to an unknown direction.
Due to the shots, paramedics from the Mexican Red Cross went to the reporter’s home where they found him on the ground , already lifeless.
According to the first line of investigation, based on data provided by witnesses, a man in a drunken state would have been responsible, however there are no further details about this person of whose whereabouts are unknown.
Margarito Martínez Esquivel worked as a photojournalist for portals such as Semanario Zeta, Cadena Noticias, Pulse Ciudadano, La Jornada Baja California and Punto Norte, among others.
In addition, he was repeatedly interviewed by international media interested in covering high-impact crimes in Tijuana.
Martínez Esquivel would have entered the Protection Protocol for Journalists after a “Blogger” identified as Ángel Peña, accused him without legal grounds of supporting and disseminating organized crime, which, during his lifetime, Margarito publicly denied.
In the Baja California journalistic union he was recognizes his work in covering police events in the city of Tijuana, mainly in the Sánchez Taboada police station, considered one of the most dangerous in this border region.
The death of Martínez Esquivel was points out as the first of a journalist in Mexico in 2021.
Mexico is one of the most violent countries in the world for the journalistic union and every year there are numerous murders, attacks and intimidations against the press by organized crime and authorities.
According to Article , an organization founded in 1987 that defends freedom of expression and the right to information, in Mexico during 2021 there were seven murders of journalists, among the more than 600 aggressions registered in the year, which confirms that violence against the press remains unchanged in this country.
With the seven murders in 2021 and 145 So far in the 21st century, Mexico is one of the most violent countries in the world for journalists and, according to the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the country ranks the position 143 between 180 countries in their World Press Freedom Index 2021.
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