Jorge Ochoa Martínez

Over the weekend I spent several hours with two prominent journalists in Chilpancingo, Mexico, wondering who murdered their colleague Jorge Ochoa Martínez on January 29, and hearing about some of the seemingly unbearable pressures on Mexican journalists. Ochoa was shot in the face as he was leaving a birthday party for a local politician in the town of Ayutla de los Libres.

New York, February 1, 2010—Jorge Ochoa Martínez, a Mexican editor and publisher in Guerrero state, died late Friday after being shot in the face, according to local press reports. Mexican authorities must put an end to the cycle of impunity in attacks on the press by ensuring those responsible for Ochoa’s murder are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.