The state of Guerrero, located along Mexico's Pacific coast, has for years ranked among the country's most violent areas. On Wednesday, six people were reported killed, including two municipal law enforcement officers.
One of the victims, Pedro Ronald Paz, also worked as a journalist for local news outlet NotiExpres. He was fatally shot just minutes after reporting on an unfinished public works project overseen by the municipal government of Acapulco.
According to local media reports, Paz was killed at around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday on a busy avenue in Acapulco. Police said he was shot at close range by a group of armed men while walking through a nearby commercial area.
Just 15 minutes before his death, Paz had streamed a live video on Facebook showing the unfinished construction site in the Progreso neighborhood. In the video, he criticized local officials for abandoning the project, saying the area remained littered with rubble and large stones that posed a hazard to pedestrians.
"Unfortunately, the municipal government came to tear up part of the street," he said. "But as you can see, they left behind the rubble, and there's no sign of progress. People walking here could easily fall into this hole. They just came and made a mess."
The rapid sequence of events leading to Paz's killing has drawn widespread concern in Acapulco, a city governed by Mayor Abelina López Rodríguez of the Morena party. López Rodríguez was recently accused of abusing her office and failing to account about $48 million in federal funds used by her administration in 2023.
Paz's death is not an isolated incident. According to El Blog del Narco, Acapulco —despite its reputation as one of Mexico's top tourist destinations— has become increasingly dangerous for journalists and digital news outlet administrators.
On May 15, José Carlos González Herrera, known as "El Ave Fénix" and director of the outlet El Guerrero, Opinión Ciudadana, was shot and killed in the city center. He had previously survived an assassination attempt in June 2023.
As attacks on the press grow more frequent, the broader picture in Guerrero remains troubling. The state has long ranked among the most violent in Mexico, and recent data only reinforces that image. According to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), Guerrero recorded 736 homicides in the first half of 2025, ranking sixth nationwide.
That amounts to an average of four killings per day. In June alone, 110 homicides were reported, many of them targeting business owners, public officials and political figures.
Violence against journalists, in particular, continues to rise across Mexico. According to the report conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Observatory of Killed Journalists, seven members of the press were killed in Mexico in 2024.
Media workers across the country remain frequent targets—often in direct retaliation for reporting on corruption, cartel activity and other organized crime.
In the past five years, only Gaza (159) and Ukraine (59) have recorded more journalist deaths than Mexico (55), according to the same report.
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
