Regina Martínez Pérez

When Silva was arrested in October 2012, he confessed to the murder of Martínez Pérez. Investigators and authorities in Veracruz concluded that the journalist was killed during a robbery.[18] When placed before a judge, Silva retracted his confession and stated that he had been tortured, held hostage for over a week, and threatened by Veracruz authorities in order to make him confess to the assassination. Silva said that officials had threatened to kill his mother, his last remaining family member.[19][20] During a press conference, the Veracruz authorities relied solely on the confession of Silva as evidence against him. None of them made references to DNA, fingerprint, or blood samples from the murder scene. Sources close to the Committee to Protect Journalists stated that the samples collected at the crime scene do not match those of any of the criminals listed on the national database. This should rule out both Silva and Domínguez (who is still at large) from the murder, because both of them have extensive criminal records.[20] Proceso news magazine immediately took a critical stance toward the investigation and said that they did not believe that the Veracruz authorities were capable of completing a clean investigation. The committee to Protect Journalists believes that the murder case was possibly fabricated, and that Silva was likely used as a scapegoat by the authorities. Just a few items were stolen from Martínez Pérez's house while valuable goods were left behind, so they allege that theft was not the real motive behind her murder.[20][21] According to Mexican law, Proceso was allowed to participate in the investigation, so they appointed a top journalist to cover every detail of it. Proceso has complained that the Veracruz authorities have lied to them regarding possible developments in the investigation.[20]

Six months after Martínez Pérez's slaying, the Veracruz authorities stated that her murder was also a crime of passion. According to the reports, Domínguez was the alleged boyfriend of the journalist.[22][23] In April 2013, Proceso stated that it had received classified information that its senior editor who was covering the investigation, Jorge Carrasco, was a possible target by corrupt Veracruz officials. Reportedly, members of the administration of Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa were allowed to carry out "hostile actions against the reporter in response to his most recent publication on the Regina Martínez case."[22] Sources close to the news magazine alleged that officials were plotting to kill the reporter while he was in the nation's capital, Mexico City. The Veracruz authorities responded by stating that the accusations were false and asked Proceso to provide evidence for its claims.[22] The governor promised that he would investigate the threats, and the journalist went into hiding with several armed bodyguards.[16] That same month, Silva was sentenced to 38 years and 2 months in prison for the murder. The judge also ordered the murderer to pay roughly US$8,000 in reparations for her death and the stolen possessions. Proceso, however, expressed its doubt on the murder case and trial once again, stating that they did not believe the court was sentencing the right man.[24][25]

Many journalists continue to dispute the facts in the case, believing that the murder was retribution for reports by Martínez Pérez on drug trafficking and political corruption; they have questioned the investigation by the state of Veracruz.[20][26][27] Proceso magazine's reporter said the investigators never explored the possibility that her journalism may have been the motive behind her murder.[21] Press freedom organizations across the world have complained that the case was designed to cover up the crime instead of clarifying what actually happened.[16] "We don't believe them [the authorities]", said Proceso reporter Jorge Carrasco on behalf of the whole newspaper magazine.[20] The case was the subject of a podcast [28] by A Safer World for Truth and openDemocracy released in December 2021.

Veracruz is the most dangerous place in Mexico for journalists;[29] at least nine journalists have been killed since Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa took office in 2010, many of them by the Los Zetas drug cartel.[30][31][32] Most of these reporters were killed under unclear circumstances, and few arrests have been made in their respective investigations. Given the high levels of corruption, criminal impunity, and drug-related attacks against the press all across Veracruz, many local journalists have decided to leave the state and relocate in other parts of Mexico.[33] The atmosphere in Veracruz has also forced many media outlets to self-censor and stop reporting on the drug violence. With traditional reporting being too dangerous and intimidating, social media and blogs are often the only outlets for reporting serious crimes.[34]

The state of Veracruz used to be controlled by the Gulf Cartel before business was handed over to Los Zetas, their former allies, when they went to war across northeastern Mexico in early 2010. Since 2011, much of the drug-related violence is a result of the turf wars between Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel, a drug trafficking organization based in western Mexico and headed by Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, Mexico's most-wanted drug lord. These criminal groups are fighting for Veracruz because of its lucrative smuggling routes for contraband, drug trafficking, and illegal migrants heading to the United States. It has one of Mexico's busiest ports, and officials say that there is no way they can inspect all of the containers that come in by ship.[35][36] Corruption is also widespread in Veracruz; investigators have been slow and reluctant to link the Martínez Pérez murder to organized crime.[37] According to the committee to Protect Journalists, Veracruz is by "general consensus one of the most politically corrupt [states in Mexico]".[20] Mexico was ruled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for 71 years until it lost the presidential seat to the conservative National Action Party (PAN) in 2000.[38][39][40] The PRI has long been criticized for being corrupt and allowing the drug trafficking organizations in the country to operate freely if they maintained relative peace.[41] Although the PRI lost the national presidency in 2000, some states remained under the rule of PRI politicians. "Democratic transition never quite reached Veracruz," a state of 8 million people.[16] PRI governors in Veracruz continued to rule with the state with tactics largely abandoned by the PRI at a national level.[16]

Martínez Pérez was the fifth journalist killed in Veracruz during the sexenio of Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa, which started in 2010.[32][42] The first journalist assassinated was Noel López Olguín (March 2011), followed by Miguel Ángel López Velasco and his son Miseal (June 2011). Then Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz was killed (July 2011), followed by Martínez Pérez (April 2012). Just a few days after her death, the mutilated bodies of four media professionals were discovered.[42] There would be still another journalist murdered in Veracruz: Víctor Manuel Báez (June 2012).[43] Although not officially counted in the death toll of journalists, at least three journalists have been kidnapped and have remained in captivity since 2010: Manuel Gabriel Fonseca Hernández (September 2011),[44] Miguel Morales Estrada (July 2012),[45] and Sergio Landa Rosales (November 2012).[46]

Nearly 100 journalists, bloggers and writers have been kidnapped or killed in Mexico since 2000, making the country one of the most dangerous places on the planet in which to be a journalist. Most of these crimes, too, have remained unsolved, and only a few perpetrators have been brought to justice.[47]

On 22 June 2012, former President Felipe Calderón signed the "Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists" (Spanish: Ley Para la Protección de Personas Defensoras de Derechos Humanos y Periodistas), which makes attacks against journalists a federal crime and establishes a fund for investigating these crimes.[48] The law also establishes several preventative measures to protect journalists, such as providing them bodyguards, armored vehicles, bullet-proof vests, security cameras, wireless equipment and satellite cellphones to communicate in case of any danger, and temporary relocation if deemed necessary.[49] Congress passed a law on 7 June 2012 that allowed the federal government to investigate attacks against journalists, crimes which used to be under the jurisdiction of state and municipal forces.[50]