Journalist receives death threats
On 4 May 2026, journalist Alberto Amaro received a threatening message through Facebook warning of an attempt on his life and the lives of his family members. This latest threat adds to a long pattern of intimidation, harassment, and violence he has faced since 2019, and that forced him to leave the country for a year in 2024, because of his journalistic work. We call on the authorities ensure his safety, a thorough investigation on the attacks and threats against him and his family, and demonstrate through concrete actions that freedom of expression and the defence of human rights will be protected.
Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were both journalists, Amaro founded the digital outlet La Prensa de Tlaxcala in 2018. But within a year he began to receive threats linked to his investigations into local politics, crime and corruption.
Mexico’s smallest state, Tlaxcala is a major hub for human trafficking and sexual slavery. The area is home to powerful, family-run criminal networks that traffic girls and young women across Mexico and the United States, among other illicit activities.
Amaro recounted that, since 2019, he has been attacked, threatened and arrested by police officers and intimidated by members of organized crime groups. People have photographed him, his wife and children, hacked his website and smeared his reputation in Facebook posts accusing him of being a criminal. While out driving, aggressors have tried to block his passage and force him off the road, and a gunman aboard a motorbike has taken shots at him. Intruders have tried to break into his home, fired shots at his property, and fatally poisoned one of his pet dogs.
The report «Nobody Guarantees My Safety» by Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) documents the serious shortcomings and structural failures of Mexico’s Federal Protection Mechanism for journalists. The report highlights that several journalists have been attacked and even killed while under state protection, demonstrating that existing measures are often insufficient, poorly implemented, or not properly monitored. In this context, Alberto Amaro Jordán’s concerns about failures in his own protection scheme must be treated with the utmost seriousness and urgency by both federal and state authorities.
There has been a documented pattern of persecution against Alberto Amaro, including a previous Urgent Action campaign launched in 2024, and closed later that same year. The extreme risks he endured ultimately forced him to seek refuge in Spain from September 2024 to September 2025 through Amnesty International’s protection program for human rights defenders.
Reports issued by Article 19 Mexico and Central America, an organization specializing in freedom of expression and the protection of journalists, document patterns of violence, surveillance, harassment, and intimidation against members of the press, as well as the failure of authorities to provide effective protection. These findings reinforce concerns regarding the shortcomings of the Federal Protection Mechanism in Mexico.
Throughout the 21st century Mexico has remained one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists. CPJ has recorded 88 killings of journalists and media workers in Mexico since 2012 and verified that 37 of them were murdered in relation to their work.[9] The most dangerous states in that period have been Veracruz (21 killings), Guerrero (10), Oaxaca (9), and Sonora (7). CPJ distinguishes between murders that have been confirmed to be linked directly to the victim´s work and killings of which the motive is not yet clear.
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Please take action before 21 July 2026.
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