Mexico crime reporter found dead

27 July 2011 Last updated at 10:25 GMT Yolanda Ordaz had worked as a reporter for 20 years The body of a Mexican journalist who worked for the Notiver newspaper has been found dumped outside the offices of another newspaper in Veracruz state.

Crime reporter Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz had been missing since Sunday night.

Officials said organised crime was suspected in the murder of Ms Ordaz, who was found with her throat cut.

Last month, columnist Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco, who wrote about politics and crime for Notiver, was killed in his house in the port city of Veracruz.

His wife and son were also killed in the attack.

Ms Ordaz had been reported missing at the weekend. Her body was found on Tuesday outside the offices of another newspaper in Boca del Rio, a city next to the port of Veracruz.

Authorities are looking at links between her murder and those of Mr Lopez Velasco and his family.

The attorney general of Veracruz state, Reynaldo Escobar, said that "everything pointed to" organised crime being behind the killing of Ms Ordaz.

However, he denied that she had been killed because of her work.

The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists says that 15 reporters have been killed in Mexico since 2010. Four of these murders have been confirmed as relating to the journalists' work.

View the original article here

Mexico reporter and family killed

21 June 2011 Last updated at 08:03 GMT Notiver called for a swift investigation to catch those behind the murders A Mexican journalist has been shot dead, along with his wife and 21-year-old son, by gunmen who burst into his home.

Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco, who wrote about politics and crime, was killed in his house in the port city of Veracruz.

Authorities have not yet determined a motive for the murders, which they condemned as a "cowardly" attack.

Rights groups rank Mexico as one of the most dangerous countries in the Americas for journalists.

Armed men broke into Mr Lopez Velasco's house in Veracruz early on Monday morning, killing him, his wife Agustina and his son, Misael.

Mr Lopez Velasco, 55, wrote for the daily newspaper Notiver, where he was also an editor. His columns focussed on crime, drug trafficking and political corruption.

In its coverage, Notiver called for a swift and transparent investigation to find those guilty of the three killings.

Those responsible "should be punished with the full weight of the law", the newspaper said.

In a statement on Monday, Mexico's National Commission on Human Rights said that, since 2000, 70 journalists had been killed and 13 were missing. There have also been 22 attacks on media organisations.

View the original article here