Miguel Ángel López Velasco – Status: In Progress & Under Investigation

Miguel Ángel López Velasco, a Mexican columnist and editor known for writing about crime and politics, was murdered on 20 June 2011 in Veracruz. Armed men broke into his home at dawn and shot him, his wife, and his son to death, in what was widely seen as a targeted attack linked to his journalism.

Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco’s last words/work: In his previous column in the Mexican regional newspaper Notiver, Miguel Ángel López Velasco addressed femicide, political nepotism, and the contamination of drinking water. Authorities had promised to deal with the problems, wrote López Velasco, then deputy director of that media outlet for the state of Veracruz

Journalist Information:

Name: Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco

Age: 55

Gender: Male

DOB: 1965

Nationality: Mexican

Last company worked for: Notiver Newspaper

Family: All his family members were killed by his killer.

Incident Information:

Date of incident – June 20, 2011

Location of the incident – Veracruz, Mexico

Offense victim of: Assassination

Weapons included – Gun

Suspect(s) Information:

Name: Juan Carlos Carranza Saavedra

Proof of Targeting the Journalist: Miguel Ángel López Velasco was targeted because his columns in Notiver exposed drug cartels, corruption, and abuses in Veracruz. Hours after publishing a defiant final piece, armed men stormed his home and executed him, his wife, and son, a clear reprisal for his journalism rather than random violence.

Reason for Killing: In his Notiver column, he exposed drug cartel violence, political corruption, and abuses of power in the state. Authorities and colleagues believe his murder was a reprisal attack ordered by organized crime figures, likely with ties to corrupt local officials, who felt threatened by his reporting. The targeted nature of the home invasion, where gunmen executed López Velasco, his wife, and son, underscored that he was silenced for his work rather than random violence.

Progress of the Case: Miguel Ángel López Velasco’s case remains unsolved. Authorities named ex-police officer Juan Carlos Carranza Saavedra as the mastermind days after the 2011 murders, but no arrests or convictions followed. More than a decade later, the investigation is stalled, and the case stands as part of Veracruz’s broader pattern of impunity for journalist killings. In 2022, a People’s Tribunal in Mexico City revisited the case to highlight this failure of justice.

Read More: https://www.freepressunlimited.org/en/current/mexico-tribunal-murder-journalists