By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat
A local reporter and news Facebook page administrator was seriously injured by gunfire early yesterday morning in Acapulco, Guerrero. He was hospitalized with six gunshot wounds, but is stable.
According to El Financiero, Alan Castro was shot six times with 9mm rounds after leaving a home in the Colonia Morelos de Acapulco neighborhood. Castro was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries, including a gunshot wound to the head. He underwent surgery yesterday morning, and his condition is grave, but stable.
Alan Castro Abarca is the administrator of the Facebook pages “Contacto TV Guerrero” and “La Última Línea Noticias”. Both of these Facebook pages have a significant following, reporting on news in the state of Guerrero, covering topics from government programs to local traffic and weather. Occasionally the pages would cover stories about crime and government corruption.
Castro is the son of Celso Castro Castro, a reporter for Guerrero El Sol de Acapulco.
It is unclear what the motive for this attack was, but local news are reporting it may have been a mugging. As All Source News, who tracks violence in Mexico noted, last weekend was particularly violent in Guerrero, with at least 11 killed in several attacks.
Mexico is a highly dangerous nation for the press according to Article 19, a group that tracks killings of journalists in Mexico. At least 157 journalist have been killed in Mexico since 2000 in relation to their work, with 12 last year. It is important to note that this figure excludes killings of journalists where the motive was not determined, or determined not to be related to work. The actual figure for journalist killings in 2022 is 17.
Particularly at risk are news bloggers and independent journalists like Castro, as they lack the backing and support of a newspaper. As journalist Alejandra Ibarra Chaoul wrote, they provide: “daily, unwavering, and often opinionated hyperlocal news and citizen reporting that unequivocally denounced abuses of power”. When they are killed, their vital reporting on local affairs is lost.
Sources: El Financiero, Excelsior, Articulo 19, El Pais, Expresiones Guerrero, Reporte GRO, @All_Source_News, Slate