The organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned this Friday the murder of Mexican journalist Roxana Berenice Guzmán Ramírez, originally from the state of Veracruz, emphasizing that the crime highlights the authorities' shortcomings in protecting those who practice journalism.
The director of the news portal Pulso Informativo del Sureste was deprived of her liberty on June 2 in Nanchital and her remains have been identified a month later. For RSF, this murder is part of the progressive deterioration of security conditions for the press in Veracruz, a state in which three journalists have been murdered during the first half of 2026.
In this context, the organization has called on the Attorney General's Office (FGR) for an "immediate, exhaustive, transparent, and impartial" investigation that will clarify the motive for the crime and bring both the material and intellectual perpetrators to justice.
According to information released by RSF, the kidnapping occurred on the morning of June 2, when a group of armed and hooded men burst into the communicator's home in Nanchital and forcibly took her away after threatening her.
The ongoing investigations have led to the arrest of eight people, including four municipal police officers from Ixhuatlán del Sureste. José del Carmen Cadena Escayola has also been arrested, identified as allegedly involved in the kidnapping, who reportedly provided information about the location where the journalist's human remains were later found.
This Friday, July 3, the Attorney General's Office of the State of Veracruz confirmed that the remains found in a ranch located between the municipalities of Ixhuatlán del Sureste and Moloacán corresponded to Roxana Guzmán.
The reporter was in charge of Pulso Informativo del Sureste, a news platform disseminated on Facebook that followed community issues, public security, municipal politics, services, and social problems in the southern zone of Veracruz.
Concern over the worsening of guarantees for the press
The director of RSF for Latin America, Artur Romeu, has pointed out that the murder illustrates the deterioration of guarantees for exercising journalism in the entity. Likewise, he has demanded that the authorities explain what actions were taken during the search for the communicator, why she was not found alive, and if the crime is related to her informative work.
Romeu has warned that the absence of punishment in these types of cases favors the repetition of attacks against journalists, which is why he has reiterated the urgency of breaking the cycle of impunity that, he said, affects Veracruz as well as the rest of Mexico.
RSF has recalled that Roxana Guzmán is the third journalist murdered in Veracruz so far in 2026 and the fourth member of the press murdered in the country in the same period. Previous cases include those of Carlos Leonardo Ramírez Castro and Luis Ángel López Valdez, both murdered in Poza Rica.
The organization has expressed its condolences to the journalist's family and has requested that protection measures be granted to her relatives while investigations continue.
The IACHR condemns the crime and warns about its effect on freedom of expression
In parallel, the Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has also condemned the murder of Roxana Guzmán, insisting that these types of aggressions constitute a direct attack against freedom of expression.
Through a statement disseminated on social networks, the Rapporteurship has urged the Mexican authorities to continue with the investigations until the case is fully clarified. Furthermore, it has expressed its solidarity with the journalist's family, friends, and colleagues, and has taken note of the arrest of eight people allegedly linked to the events, including four municipal police officers, according to a report published by the Mexican newspaper "La Jornada".
The specialized office of the IACHR has recalled that aggressions against journalists not only violate the victims' right to life but also seek to inhibit the exercise of freedom of expression and generate a climate of self-censorship among those who work in the media.
For its part, the Attorney General's Office of the State of Veracruz has confirmed the murder of Roxana Guzmán and has reported that currently eight people remain detained for their alleged participation in the case, while the proceedings continue to determine the corresponding responsibilities.