Overview
- The attack, which occurred Saturday, struck the facade and windows of the Rockaway restaurant in Juchitán de Zaragoza while it was empty and was described by the owner as carried out by two young men on a motorcycle after he refused a 50,000-peso extortion demand.
- The Fiscalía General del Estado de Oaxaca opened an investigation and deployed personnel specialized in crimes against freedom of expression, but no arrests have been reported so far.
- Journalist José Ignacio Santiago Martínez has federal protection from the Mecanismo de Protección since January 2022 and says he filed four complaints with the state Fiscalía since June about threats and extortion with little visible progress.
- The Alianza de Comunicadores del Istmo and Santiago Martínez demanded an exhaustive, expedited investigation and reinforced protective measures while the journalist publicly called on President Claudia Sheinbaum and Governor Salomón Jara to intervene.
- Local reports place the attack in a wider pattern of extortion and violence in the Istmo de Tehuantepec that drives impunity for crimes against the press and risks further displacement, self-censorship, and public fear if investigations do not produce clear results.