After the murder of journalist Luis Ángel López on June 11 in Poza Rica, his colleague Eli Martínez took the microphone and went out to demand protection for those working in the media. “Documenting an event, taking photographs, recording videos, or transmitting information does not constitute any crime, much less an illicit activity,” said the reporter loud and clear. It was not the first time he insisted on the criminalization faced by journalists covering the police beat. Now he is the one who is missing.
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Martínez was shot at Monday night while he was with another colleague on 20 de Noviembre Avenue. The two ran away, but Martínez could not escape and was intercepted by armed men. Journalists from Veracruz are demanding an immediate search for the reporter. So far this year, three journalists have already been killed in the state, two of them in the same town of Poza Rica. The third case, one of the most impactful, is the crime of Roxana Guzmán, after being kidnapped by an armed group and the authorities not finding her in time.
On 4th Street, in the Cazones neighborhood of Poza Rica, very close to the city’s main road, Bulevar Adolfo López Cortines, Eli Martínez’s motorcycle and cap were left Monday night. The place was scattered with spent shell casings, according to a live video report by the local media Presente Veracruz. The attack took place right in front of a gas station, which has several security cameras. Those recordings and the testimony of the journalist who was with Martínez at the time of the attack have now become the main leads in the investigation.
“The request is clear: an immediate, effective, and coordinated search to find Eli Martínez and guarantee his safety,” wrote the local newspaper Noreste, where Eli Martínez collaborated. The reporter, specialized in crime reporting, had also contributed to national media such as Grupo Fórmula. “This is a human and supportive demand, beyond any differences, which seeks only that Eli Martínez be located and can return to his family, colleagues, and loved ones,” the publication reads.
Veracruz has once again become the main hotspot for attacks against the press. The state leads the list with the most journalists killed since 2000: 34 deadly crimes against communicators; the vast majority remain unpunished. In just these eight months, three new names have been added to the call for justice.
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In January, reporter Carlos Castro, 26, was shot dead while eating at a family restaurant. He also covered crime news and was also in Poza Rica. He had been part of the Protection Mechanism for Journalists until 2024. The reporter’s partner and a friend disappeared after attending his funeral on January 10. Their families still plead with the Prosecutor’s Office for answers.
In June, on the same avenue and in the same neighborhood where Eli Martínez has now disappeared, Luis Ángel López Valdez was killed, a reporter for the media outlet Vanguardia de Veracruz and director of Reportaje Policiaco Veracruzano. The communicator was 29 years old. It was Martínez himself who narrated on Grupo Fórmula the intimidation Luis Ángel had experienced from state Security Secretariat police two hours before being murdered. His colleagues insisted that this should be one of the lines of investigation.
The murder of Luis Ángel was nine days after the kidnapping of Roxana Guzmán. The brutal video recorded by her family of the armed group entering her home helped to viralize the case, which — unlike the others — reached Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning press conference. After three weeks, the Veracruz Prosecutor’s Office found Roxana’s remains on a ranch in Ixhuatlán del Sureste. Four members of a criminal cell known as Grupo Sombra have been arrested for her crime, as well as four municipal police officers from Ixhuatlán accused of having “provided resources, food, and logistical support in the operations of the criminal group” while Roxana was held captive. The Prosecutor’s Office has accused the mayor of Ixhuatlán, Raúl González Martínez, of kidnapping and also of the murder. According to the investigation, the mayor ordered the crime because the journalist had a photo of him carrying a long gun.
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