Press group calls on Mexican president to stop attacks

The Inter American Press Association is calling on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to halt a days-long series of verbal attacks on a Mexican journalist

MEXICO CITY -- The Inter American Press Association called on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Monday to halt a days-long series of verbal attacks on a Mexican journalist.

The press freedom group said Monday the president’s attacks on TV, radio and print columnist Carlos Loret de Mola are harmful amid an unprecedented upswing in killings of journalists in Mexico. Five reporters or photographers have been murdered in the space of a month.

López Obrador started Friday, publishing a chart showing how much Loret allegedly earns. The president showed the chart again on Monday at his daily news briefing, and called Loret de Mola and others who publish critical articles “thugs, mercenaries, sellouts.”

The IAPA called on the president to “immediately suspend the aggressions and insults, because such attacks from the top of power encourage violence against the press.”