MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Authorities on Friday intensified the search for three journalists believed kidnapped by armed men in the south of Mexico, which press freedom groups consider among the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters.
The attorney general’s office in the state of Guerrero on Thursday said it was investigating the disappearance of five people in the tourist town of Taxco, among them journalists Marco Toledo, Silvia Arce and Alberto Sanchez.
Carlos Monge, communications chief for the attorney general’s office, said searches would be reinforced with participation from the state prosecutors’ office, the state search commission, state police, National Guard and the Army.
Fifteen vans with personnel from various law enforcement agencies were deployed from the state capital to Taxco, Monge said.
International free-speech group Article 19 on Thursday said that according to witness testimony, five armed men entered the home of Toledo, the director of the weekly El Espectador de Taxco, on Sunday, taking him, his wife and son away.
“At least two witnesses told the organization that the journalist had been a victim of threats and harassment in previous years,” Article 19 said in a statement, noting that Toledo had reported on politics and security.
Arce and Sanchez, a couple who lead the digital RedSiete platform, were on Wednesday kidnapped by armed men who entered the outlet’s central Taxco offices, according to testimonies collected by Article 19.
Arce’s sister published a video on social media on Thursday asking for help to spread the word about the case.
“I want my sister back, I want my brother-in-law back,” she said. “My nephews, who are three and five years old, and my niece, who is thirteen years old, need them,” she added.
Mexico is among the world’s deadliest countries for journalists, with five journalists killed so far this year, according to Article 19. Last year marked the deadliest since the group began records in 2000, with 13 journalists murdered.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes Fernandez; Editing by Alistair Bell)
