Vicente Fox as a Contributor to the Murder of Journalists in Mexico

 

 Vicente Fox as a Contributor to the Murder of Journalists in Mexico
By Dr. Jossalberto Briceño Sáenz

During the six-year term of Vicente Fox Quesada (2000–2006), Mexico underwent a significant political transformation by breaking with more than 70 years of PRI rule. However, that same administration was responsible for the disappearance or weakening of the subjects of Civics and Ethics in basic education. A decision that has allowed the worsening of racism among Mexicans and, as one of its most lethal symptoms, has generated systematic violence against journalists in Mexico.

Ethics and Civics are fundamental pillars for the social, political, and economic development of any nation. Their disappearance in 2002, during Vicente Fox's administration, as well as their deficient reimplementation 17 years later, has had severe consequences for Mexico. ¹ In my view, their return to the education system lacks a critical and updated direction: these subjects should undergo a deep restructuring and a contemporary anthropological evaluation that questions cultural practices, norms, and dominant ideologies. It is urgent to eradicate monoculturalism and clarify the confusion between culture and morality, thus redirecting the country toward a model of “Ethical Cultural Normativism.”

Likewise, it is vital to implement this training not only in schools but also among the entire adult working population who never received, or still lack, this educational foundation. The absence of ethics in key sectors —officials, entrepreneurs, and citizens in general— fosters corruption, impunity, and violence. Bribery is accepted, abuse of power is justified, and silence is maintained in the face of injustice. What we are experiencing today is the direct result of having abandoned these formative pillars for almost two decades.

In simple terms: Ethics teaches people to act beyond self-interest, to act without selfishness, to respect truth, and to defend the value of information as a right for all, allowing people to engage in dialogue without violence and respecting differences. This can be translated into the right to report news and to allow people to practice journalism.

Civics, on the other hand, creates the awareness and social pressure needed to reject corruption, impunity, and authoritarianism. Civics is what we could translate as the very reporters and journalists who denounce with their investigations made public through journalistic articles. In summary: Ethics allows people to speak and be fair; Civics generates the social responsibility to investigate, question, and tell stories. Both subjects disappeared from classrooms under Fox’s government, and today we are paying the price.

Intragroup disdain, or the well-known “crab mentality,” is brutally reflected in power structures. State and municipal governments allow threats and the elimination of journalists, activists, and critical citizens —especially if they criticize the system. In states like Guanajuato, particularly in Celaya, journalists have been threatened or silenced. Not by foreigners. It is Mexican politicians themselves, local businessmen, or opportunistic communicators who seek to ingratiate themselves with power, even at the cost of their colleagues’ murder. People who know neither Ethics nor Civics.

The case of Lourdes Maldonado, a journalist murdered in Tijuana in 2022, proves this. She did not die for criticizing another country, but for denouncing the abuses of Mexican politicians. She was a Mexican murdered for speaking out against other Mexicans.

According to colleagues and industry organizations, Maldonado was enrolled in the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists which, however, did not prevent her death. Lourdes Maldonado had a broad professional career, especially covering political and corruption topics. ²

Now let’s talk about Guanajuato, Vicente Fox’s political stronghold. We have the city of Celaya, now one of the epicenters of this violence. Alejandro Martínez Noguez, a crime reporter known as “The son of the lone ranger,” was shot to death in August 2024 while covering an armed attack in Celaya. He had official protection and traveled in a patrol vehicle to do his work. ³ He had already survived an attempted assassination in 2022. Celaya, the third largest city in Guanajuato, has become a lawless zone. In 2024 alone, 18 of the 40 murders of security officers in Guanajuato occurred there, according to data from the federal undersecretary of Public Security, Luis Rodríguez Bucio. ⁴

The average number of journalists murdered per six-year term in Mexico remains around 47. In 2025, in this new six-year term, six have already been killed. Two of them in Guanajuato:

• On March 2, Kristian Uriel Martínez Zavala, founder of the media outlet El Silaoense Mx, was executed along with his driver while traveling in his vehicle. Gunmen on motorcycles ambushed them and fired multiple shots. ⁵

• On March 13, Raúl Irán Villarreal Belmont, director of the digital outlet Observatorio Ciudadano, was kidnapped and executed. His body, with multiple gunshot wounds, was found hours later in Guanajuato's capital. ⁶

These crimes do not occur in a vacuum. They are a direct consequence of a system that abandoned ethical education for its citizens and allowed violence to become normalized starting in the classrooms. A system Vicente Fox helped destroy.

What led me to this conclusion were the statistics: 47 journalists murdered during the term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 47 during Enrique Peña Nieto’s, and 48 during Felipe Calderón’s, compared to only 26 during Vicente Fox’s term. ⁷

Many might interpret that during Fox's tenure, the killings of journalists were corrected. However, in my analysis, this figure does not represent an achievement but a warning.
My interpretation is the following: during his administration there were still traces of Ethics and Civics education among the population. But by the end of his term, these elements had virtually disappeared from Mexico’s education system. That ethical and civic disconnection became the breeding ground for the rise in violence afterward. It is no coincidence that the year with the most journalists murdered during his term was the last one, with 10 documented cases.

This also reflects political pressure on reporters, particularly due to ideological differences. Silencing them was a way to influence upcoming electoral processes, eliminating critical voices just when citizens needed to make informed decisions.

It is clear that the elimination of Ethics and Civics was a historic mistake. Instead of disappearing, these subjects should have been strengthened and expanded as part of a continuous education for all, even for the working class. Without them, Mexico has produced generations unable to recognize the value of life, the spoken word, and the truth.

I propose, as an urgent measure, to restructure the national education system by reinstating Ethics and Civics at all levels. What Fox weakened is now killing us.

 

Sources:

1.      El Universal (2022, July 19). Materias tardaron 17 años en volver al salón de clases. https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/politica/materias-tardaron-17-anos-en-volver-al-salon-de-clases/

2.      BBC Mundo (2022, January 25). Asesinato de la periodista Lourdes Maldonado: por qué su muerte sacudió a México y qué se sabe del caso. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-60119803

3.      Reporters Without Borders (2025, August 3). RSF condena asesinato de Alejandro Martínez Noguez, segundo periodista bajo protección asesinado en 2025. RSF. https://rsf.org/es/alejandro-martinez-noguez-asesinato

4.      La Jornada (2024, July 24). Este año han asesinado a 40 policías en Guanajuat. https://www.jornada.com.mx/2024/07/24/politica/014n1pol

5.      Reporters Without Borders (2025, March 3). Asesinan al periodista Kristian Zavala en Guanajuato. https://rsf.org/es/kristian-zavala-ejecutado

6.      Sin Embargo (2025, March 14). Asesinan a Raúl Irán Villarreal, segundo comunicador ultimado en una semana en Guanajuato. https://www.sinembargo.mx/14-03-2025/4426603

7.      Artículo 19 (2025). Periodistas y comunicadores asesinados en México. https://articulo19.org/periodistasasesinados/