Mexican radio host Fidel Ávila found dead in Michoacán

A radio station host and manager in the Mexican state of Michoacán who went missing in late November has been found dead , officials said on Thursday, adding to the growing murder toll of journalists as violence escalates across the country.

Local media said he had been shot to death .

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Mexico registered 10 killings of journalists in 2019 , the same number as the year before and in line with Syria , according to Reporters Without Borders , making Mexico one of the world’s most dangerous places for media workers.

The body of Fidel Ávila , of the “Ke Buena” station in the western state of Michoacán’s Huetamo municipality , was found on a highway earlier this week, 40 days after he was last seen at a cultural event in neighboring Guerrero state, Mexico’s National Commission of Human Rights said.

“Our condolences to the family and friends of Fidel Ávila Gómez, a journalist in Michoacán. We deeply lament his murder,” presidential spokesman Jesús Ramírez wrote in a post on Twitter.

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Michoacán and Guerrero are two of Mexico’s most violent and lawless states, where rival drug gangs have battled to control smuggling routes.

The president of the Michoacán Association of Journalists , Álvaro García , told local television that criminal activity in the area was at a peak.

“There is always a persistent risk,” he said.

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