Mexican reporter’s death continues pattern of impunity after 6 journalists killed last year

Mexico City, January 14, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Mexican authorities to swiftly and comprehensively bring journalist Carlos Castro’s killers to justice and to end a troubling continuation of impunity after at least six journalist were killed in the country last year.

Castro, 25, was shot dead January 8 while eating at a restaurant in the eastern state of Veracruz’s Poza Rica, a city some 130 miles northeast of Mexico City, according to news reports and a statement by the Veracruz State Commission for Attention to and Protection of Journalists (CEAPP), a government agency. Reports mentioned multiple male attackers approaching the journalist, shooting him, then fleeing the scene.

“The brutal killing of Carlos Castro is a shocking reminder of the violence against the press in Veracruz, one of the deadliest states in the country with the most violence against journalists in the western hemisphere,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “Mexican authorities must hold Castro’s attackers to account and determine whether he was murdered in connection with his work.”

Castro led the news website Código Norte Veracruz, which uses Facebook as its platform, and specialized in covering crime in Poza Rica, according to news reports. He was also a correspondent for the local newspaper, Noreste.

CEAPP director Luis Ramírez Baqueiro confirmed to CPJ via phone call that Castro was assigned protective measures after an altercation with a municipal police officer in April 2024. The measures expired after Castro left Veracruz in October 2024. Upon Castro’s return to Poza Rica in late 2025 the protective measures had not been re-activated after the journalist ended contact with the agency, according to Ramírez Baqueiro.

According to CPJ research, Mexico consistently ranks among the 10 countries with the highest number of journalist murders, with such crimes frequently not leading to convictions.

CPJ’s phone calls to the Veracruz state attorney general’s office (FGJE) and the Poza Rica municipal police for more information about the investigation into Castro’s death were not answered.