Date Published: August 26, 2026

Summary

The murder of three journalists in Veracruz, Mexico in 2026 has renewed attention to Mexico’s longstanding issue with violent crimes against journalists. The incidents in the state of Veracruz mirror national trends in police corruption, unsolved homicides, ineffective protection programs, and political corruption. This OSAC report provides an overview of the incidents in Veracruz, national trends in violence against members of the press, and the impacts to the private sector.

Three Journalists killed in Mexican State of Veracruz

Roxana Guzman: On July 4, the body of missing journalist Roxana Guzman was recovered at a house in Veracruz a month after her initial disappearance was reported on June 2, 2026.[1]  Guzman’s case garnered international attention after footage of armed men breaking and entering her home was viewed widely in and outside of Mexico.  Guzman was the director of a Facebook-based media outlet, Pulso Informativo del Sureste. The platform covered traffic, news, cultural updates, and criminal activity in Ms. Guzman’s community in Nanchital, Veracruz. Local prosecutors confirmed her death and the arrest of eight persons in connection with the case, including four members of criminal organization Grupo Sombra and three Municipal Police agents of Ixhuatlan del Sureste.[2]

Luis Angel Lopez Valdez: Luis Valdez was shot and killed in the Cazones neighborhood of Poza Rica, Veracruz on June 11, 2026.[3] Luis Valdez was a crime reporter for the local newspaper Vanguardia de Veracruz and director of the website Reportaje Policiaco Veracruzano. Vanguardia de Veracruz confirmed his death, as well as reports that Valdez had received threats in connection with his work as a reporter and was receiving protection from the state of Veracruz through the Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists (CEAPP) at the time of his death.[4] There are conflicting reports regarding the circumstances of his death and no arrests have been made in his case as of the date of the report’s publication. The timeline of the attack is notable, as Valdez was killed less than two weeks after Roxana Guzman was kidnapped from her home.

Carlos Castro: Carlos Castro was shot and killed while dining at a restaurant on January 8, 2026, in Poza Rica, Veracruz, the town where Luis Valdez was also killed.[5] A group of armed men reportedly entered the restaurant, shot Castro at close range, and fled on motorcycle. Carlos Castro was the director for the Facebook-based outlet Código Norte and a freelance police reporter for outlets like Vanguardia, La Opinión de Poza Rica and Enfoque.  Castro had previously received threats from at least one municipal police officer related to his work and received protection from CEAPP in 2024.[6]  Castro had left Veracruz for a period around this time, likely for his safety, ending his protection from CEAPP. After his funeral, Castro’s girlfriend, Wendy Arantxa Portilla, and friend, Karime Montserrat Murrieta, also went missing and have yet to be found.[7] No related arrests have been reported as of the date of this report’s publication.

While the concentration of these incidents in Veracruz is notable, there is no known connection between these cases at this time.

Journalist Safety in Mexico

Violence against journalists is one of Mexico’s most obstinate safety issues. Mexico is consistently named one of the most dangerous countries in the world for media workers and is ranked 122 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index by the Reporters Sans Frontieres.[8] It is estimated that between 156 and 180 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 1993. The exact number is difficult to ascertain due to the lack of journalists reporting in the country’s most dangerous states, due to self-censorship, creating a cyclical issue of underreporting of violent incidents.

This graph by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) shows how rates have changed since 1992, including a record high of 13 journalists or media workers killed in 2022.

Violence against journalists rose with the prominence of Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and cartels in Mexico. As cartels gained control of large swaths of territory, they began attacking journalists to prevent any media attention on their activities and to warn other journalists. The threat is compounded by the prevalence of political corruption in cartel-controlled areas, creating what specialists call silence zones[9]. Cartels may act upon a politician’s request to kill a critical journalist in retaliation for negative reporting.

Many cases in which a journalist is killed or murdered never lead to a conviction. The conviction rate in Mexico is low, with 93.2% of reported cases never reaching a resolution.[10] Cases involving journalists are no exception. The CPJ Impunity index ranked Mexico 8^th in 2024, behind only Haiti, Israel, Somalia, Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq, due to the high rate of unsolved murders.[11] Therefore, there is little disincentive for cartels to cease murdering journalists in retaliation for their work.

This is furthered by a public perception that journalists may be working with cartels. Cartels have engaged in social media campaigns in which they operate fake journalistic accounts, spreading disinformation and discrediting local journalists. Police and prosecutors’ offices sometimes share this distrust of journalists, often causing them to ignore a victim’s profession as a cause of their killing. Public officials and police have, in past instances of violence against journalists, informed the public or a victim’s family member that the victim was involved in organized crime and, therefore, is not a priority case.

Veracruz Poses Highest Risk for Journalists

Veracruz is known as a particularly dangerous state for journalists. Since 2000, 34 journalists or media workers have been killed In Veracruz alone.[12] That is the record high for Mexico, as shown in the map. The trend prompted a representative from the CPJ to call Veracruz “the deadliest region for journalists in all of the Americas” in 2020 after a journalist was found beheaded.[13]

Credit: Article 19.

The systemic issues mentioned in the previous section are also evident in Veracruz and the cases of these three journalists. The suspected involvement of police in both the Roxana Guzman and Carlos Castro cases points to probable corruption in local law enforcement extending beyond just those officers arrested. The arrest of members of the Grupo Sombra in Roxana Guzman’s case also highlights the danger of Grupo Sombra, a splinter group from the Gulf cartel (Cartel De Golfo) that has gained prominence since 2017, and of the potential involvement of corrupt politicians. The Mayor of Ixhuatlán del Sureste, Raúl González Martínez, has been accused by the prosecution in Ms. Guzman’s case of ordering her killing, allegedly.[14]

Veracruz may also be failing its journalists with a weak protection mechanism. Veracruz established the CEAPP in 2012 to improve conditions for journalists in the state. The Commission offers protection and training to journalists who apply for support. However, critics say the Commission is plagued by underfunding and a lack of clear governance or autonomy.[15] Luis Valdez was under the protection of the CEAPP but did not appear to have any security mechanisms with him at the time of his death. Carlos Castro was under the protection of the CEAPP at one time, but automatically lost protections upon leaving the state. The CEAPP said he would have had to reapply for protections upon his return to Veracruz. Other journalists have complained of the CEAPP withdrawing protections services for reasons that were unclear, and at least one additional journalist, María Elena Ferral, died after having her protections withdrawn.

Journalist Protection Remains a Nationwide Concern

Veracruz acts as a telling case study, but the problem persists nationwide. Four additional journalists have been killed so far in 2026 across Mexico, three just in the month of July. The four killed outside of Veracruz include:

• Juan David Gámez: March 18 in Nuevo Leon
• Manuel Alejandro Moreno: July 3 in Guerrero
• Francisco Alejandro Leyva Aguilar: July 14 in Oaxaca
• Josué Martínez Contreras: July 16 in Puebla

With seven cases reported by mid-year, 2026 could surpass the total recorded in recent years. It is too early to say if the recent concentration of cases in Veracruz, together with the national cases reported in July are signs of an increase in cartel violence or impunity. However, it does show that current efforts to protect journalists are inadequate.

Private-Sector Impact

Violence against journalists in Mexico is most likely to affect local journalists working for small or independent media outlets in states with high rates of organized crime, as cartels are enabled to act with impunity against low-profile media outlets. Cartels work to avoid national or international attention to their operations, choosing instead of act below the radar of federal and international law enforcement. Therefore, it is rare for these crimes to affect U.S. journalists traveling to the region or journalists employed by international news outlets. It is still best to take extra precautions when visiting the country as a journalist, sending journalists on assignment in Mexico, and especially when hiring a Mexican national as a freelance journalist or staff member. See OSAC’s report, Risk Mitigation Practices for Journalists for more.

Areas where journalists are in the most danger also suffer from a lack of transparency regarding crime and safety statistics and incidents. When journalists are unable to provide insight on the activities of local criminal groups or cartels, it becomes more difficult for groups that rely on open-source reports to gather an accurate picture of crime data in that area. Private sector security managers should not rely solely on publicly available data as an accurate picture of the security environment in areas with high rates of violent crimes against journalists.

Private sector organizations should also track indicators of police corruption. If incidents continue to involve local police officers, such as has occurred in Veracruz, that may be a sign of weakening security institutions in that region.  

Additional Information

For more information on the security environment in Mexico and across the Western Hemisphere, contact OSAC’s Americas team.

• OSAC Country Page: Mexico
• OSAC Country Security Report: Mexico
• OSAC Report: Risk Mitigation Practices for Journalists

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