Jaime Guadalupe González Domínguez
Born1975
Died3 March 2013 (aged 38)
Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico
Cause of deathGunshot wounds
OccupationJournalist
Years active2011–2013

Jaime Guadalupe González Domínguez (1975 – 3 March 2013) was a Mexican journalist and director of the online news portal Ojinaga Noticias, which shut down shortly after he was assassinated.

He started his journalistic career by founding an online news portal in his hometown of Ojinaga, Chihuahua. By January 2012, his newspaper began to be available on print. Ojinaga Noticias covered topics like local politics, sports activities, and crime. On his way back to work, González Domínguez was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in the Mexican state of Chihuahua on 3 March 2013. Once the attack was perpetrated, the gunmen took his camera reportedly because he had taken a photograph of an organized crime member. He is regarded as the first journalist to be killed in the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Early life and career

Jaime Guadalupe González Domínguez was born in the Mexican city of Ojinaga, Chihuahua in 1975.[1] He left his hometown for personal reasons to live outside the state, but returned to work as a reporter for the newspaper Contacto, where he worked for some years. Due to attacks on the press, González Domínguez decided to continue his journalist career online by founding the Ojinaga News portal. In early 2012, however, he encountered several death threats that forced him to relocate in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, where he reportedly lived with family members and had spent some part of his life.[1]

Another source states that González Domínguez started his journalistic career sometime in 2011 by creating the online portal known as ojinaganoticias.com.mx after moving to Ojinaga, Chihuahua from Chicago, Illinois. In January 2012, the online portal began issuing a printed version, Ojinaga Noticias, for the public.[2] The newspaper covered a wide range of topics in that small town of Chihuahua, including but not limited to local politics, sports, and crime.[3][4][5]

Aside from being a journalist, González Domínguez sold publicity and conducted social events. Among his favourite hobbies was fire breathing and acting. He practiced fire breathing during evenings at street corners in Ojinaga because he said that it made him understand the hardships of people who lived in the streets.[2][6] González Domínguez had several acting videos he had uploaded on YouTube depicting stories of drug traffickers and killings.[7]

Assassination

While heading to the offices of Ojinaga Noticias to issue some photographs and reports on 3 March 2013, unknown gunmen intercepted González Domínguez and shot him 18 times using FN Five-seven pistols, wounding him at a taco stand near his home in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, a border city just across from Presidio, Texas.[8][9][10] Once the attack was perpetrated, the assassins took his camera, reportedly because he had taken a picture of a member of their organized crime group.[11][12] Having survived the attack, he was taken to a nearby hospital where he died of hemothorax and hemoperitoneum 10 minutes after arriving.[13][14]

Shortly after his assassination, the newspaper's website posted a message condemning the attack and uploaded a photograph in honour of González Domínguez before shutting down from fear of reprisals.[15][16] The only text available at the homepage is "This page has been suspended. Please return later."[17][18]

The attackers' identities, just like motives behind his assassination, are unknown. There were no official reports of any death threats prior to his killing.[19] With González Domínguez's assassination, Mexico maintains its reputation as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. At least 50 of them were kidnapped or killed under the administration of Felipe Calderón, who served from 2006 to December 2012.[5][20]

Background

Ojinaga is located on the eastern part of the state of Chihuahua; it is a lucrative smuggling zone for narcotics heading towards the United States and a battleground for rivaling drug trafficking organizations that seek to gain control of the area's routes.[21] Local journalists believe that the criminal group that controls the area of Ojinaga is La Línea, the armed group under the tutelage of the Juárez Cartel.[5][22] Chihuahua is one of the most dangerous states in Mexico in which to practice journalism. At least 11 journalists have been killed in the state since 2000, and all of their assassinations remain unsolved.[23][A 1] On 19 February 2001, journalist José Luis Ortega Mata (aged 37), the director of a newspaper in Ojinaga, was assassinated. His death, too, remains unpunished.[2]

González Domínguez was killed a few days before an Inter-American Press Association convention in the state of Puebla. The group has noted that journalists in Mexico face severe threats for their work.[25] In addition, he is the first journalist killed during the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto.[26][A 2]

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Article 19 states that between 2000 and 2012, at least 10 journalists were killed in Chihuahua.[3] Other media outlets like Proceso and La Jornada have higher figures, with 16 and 21 respectively.[2][24]
  2. ↑ Although not mentioned in the source,[26] David Araujo Arévalo, a columnist for the Novedades de Acapulco newspaper, was killed on 22 December 2012 by unknown gunmen.[27] Enrique Peña Nieto had already assumed the presidency on 1 December 2012.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 "Asesinan a periodista". El Heraldo de Chihuahua (in Spanish). Organización Editorial Mexicana. 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mayorga, Patricia (4 March 2013). "Investigan crimen de periodista en Chihuahua; desaparece su portal noticioso". Proceso (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 "ALERTA: Grupo armado asesina a periodista en Ojinaga, Chihuahua" (in Spanish). Article 19. 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "Journalist fatally shot in northern Mexico". The Australian. 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 "News website editor shot to death in Mexico". New York City: Committee to Protect Journalists. 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "No cuenta Fiscalía con móvil dle homicidio de periodista". El Heraldo de Chihuahua (in Spanish). Organización Editorial Mexicana. 6 March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "El periodista ultimado en Chihuahua grabó historias sobre el narcotráfico". La Jornada (in Spanish). 6 March 2013. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Asesinan a periodista de diario digital en Chihuahua". La Jornada (in Spanish). Jalisco. 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  9. ↑ Fierro, Luis Alonso (4 March 2013). "Asesinan a periodista en Chihuahua". El Universal (Mexico City) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  10. ↑ Jackson, Allison (5 March 2013). "Mexico online journalist shot and killed at taco stand". GlobalPost. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  11. ↑ "Asesinan de 18 balazos a director de periódico en línea en Chihuahua". La Jornada (in Spanish). 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  12. ↑ Quesada, Juan Diego (4 March 2013). "Muy probablemente esta sea nuestra última noticia". El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  13. ↑ "Un periodista es asesinado a tiros en Chihuahua". CNNMéxico (in Spanish). Turner Broadcasting System. 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  14. ↑ Rivas, Venessa (5 March 2013). "Asesinan a periodista en Chihuahua". El Occidental (in Spanish). Organización Editorial Mexicana. Archived from the original on 6 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "Border town news website decides to close after editor shot dead". Reporters Without Borders. 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  16. ↑ "Online journalist shot in Mexican border town". International Freedom of Expression Exchange. 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  17. ↑ "Ejecutan a director de sitio web en Ojinaga, Chihuahua". Milenio (in Spanish). 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Suspenden portal Ojinaga Noticias tras asesinato de director". Radio Fórmula (in Spanish). 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  19. ↑ "Muy probablemente esta sea nuestra última nota". Zócalo Saltillo (in Spanish). Chihuahua, Chihuahua. 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  20. 1 2 Fausset, Richard (1 December 2012). "Mexico's Enrique Peña Nieto assumes presidency amid protests". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  21. ↑ "Cierra medio tras asesinato de periodista". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). 4 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  22. ↑ Stewart, Scott (5 August 2010). "Mexico's Juarez Cartel Gets Desperate". Stratfor. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  23. ↑ "Condenan asesinato de periodista en Chihuahua". Esmas.com (in Spanish). Televisa. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  24. ↑ "Asesinan a balazos y roban una cámara fotográfica a periodista en Ojinaga". La Jornada (in Spanish). 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  25. ↑ Chavez, Ricardo (5 March 2013). "Gunmen Kill Online Reporter in Mexico Border Town". ABC News. The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  26. 1 2 "Un grupo armado asesina a un periodista del norte de México". Yahoo! News (in Spanish). EFE. 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  27. ↑ "Ejecutan a articulista de diario en Acapulco". Milenio (in Spanish). 22 December 2012. Archived from the original on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
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