VIDEO: Armed Men Abduct Veracruz Journalist From Home After Covering Local Complaints

Veracruz authorities are investigating the abduction of Mexican journalist after armed men forced their way into her home in the southeastern municipality of Nanchital, an incident partially captured on video that has since circulated widely online.

Video recorded during the incident shows armed men dressed in black breaking the glass door of the home of Roxana Guzmán Ramírez and forcing their way inside while family members warn that a baby is present in the house. "Wait, there's a baby!" a man can be heard shouting in the recording before one of the intruders orders those inside to get on the floor. The footage cuts off shortly afterward.

Guzmán Ramírez is the director of the digital outlet Pulso Informativo del Sureste.

The Veracruz Attorney General's Office confirmed it opened an investigation into what it described as the alleged deprivation of liberty of a journalist identified by the initials R.G.R. Officials said prosecutors, forensic experts and investigative police were carrying out search operations and gathering evidence to determine the identity of those responsible.

Authorities have not announced a motive and said they have not ruled out whether the abduction was connected to Guzmán's journalistic work.

Guzmán had recently published reports involving local complaints in Nanchital, including allegations about the sale of spoiled eggs and demands from a family seeking compensation from the municipal government after an accident involving an official vehicle, as Mexico's Milenio reports.

The state Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists said it sent a special team to assist Guzmán's family. ARTICLE 19 and the women journalists' organization CIMAC also called on authorities to investigate the case under protocols related to crimes against freedom of expression.

According to CIMAC, Guzmán left Veracruz in 2017 for security reasons after the killing of her husband, Carlos Fernández Escalante, who was shot to death in Nanchital that year. She later returned to the state and founded Pulso Informativo del Sureste, a hyperlocal digital outlet focused on community complaints, public services, local politics and security issues.

In recent months, Guzmán had announced plans to expand her reporting across communities in southern Veracruz through live broadcasts and citizen reporting initiatives.