Mexican journalist Hamurabi Huesca Manzano shot dead in Oaxaca, ninth killed this year
Hamurabi Huesca Manzano, owner of the Pinotepa Comunica news portal, was shot dead on Friday in Oaxaca, according to Article 19 the ninth journalist killed in Mexico this year. The state prosecutor's office says an armed group opened fire on him and two other men.
The attack
Hamurabi Huesca Manzano, owner and creator of the news portal Pinotepa Comunica, was shot dead on Friday in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. According to the state prosecutor's report, an armed group opened fire on him and two other men. Huesca Manzano also worked as a taxi driver, and his portal, which had more than 52,000 followers, published news on politics and local affairs in Santiago Pinotepa Nacional, the city where he lived. EL PAÍS reported that little further information had emerged about the attack itself.
Target and investigation
The prosecutor's office said one line of inquiry points to a dispute between local criminal groups, and that the intended target of the shooting was a man known as "El Darío". El Darío, whom the authorities describe as one of the main instigators of violence in the Oaxaca coast area, was wounded and died in hospital hours later. Prosecutors said Huesca Manzano was waiting to take El Darío somewhere else when the journalist was shot. The office says the attackers have been "fully identified", but it has not named them or said whether Huesca Manzano's journalistic work played any role.
Conflicting accounts
Local reports differ on where the attack happened. A number of them say Huesca Manzano was shot at his home and that a woman was also injured.
Reactions
Article 19 condemned the killing and wrote on X that it wants the prosecutor's office to act on the case in a specific way.
We demand that the prosecutor's office treat his journalistic work as a priority in its investigation.
Antonio Olmedo Mendoza, mayor of San Miguel Tlacamama, confirmed the death and offered condolences in a statement reported by local media.
With deep sorrow, I regret the passing of Hamurabi Sinclair Huesca Manzano.
He added that he shared the grief of Huesca Manzano's family, friends and colleagues.
Press safety in Mexico
Article 19 counts Huesca Manzano as the ninth journalist killed in Mexico since the start of 2026, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has updated its list of journalists killed in the country with his case. RSF says more than 150 media workers have been killed in Mexico since 1994. Several NGO reports cited by RFI say that most killings and attacks against journalists in Mexico go unpunished.
