Photo: On September 19, the independent SINMCO union held a “road rally” on the Cristóbal Colón International Highway to remember journalist Alejandro Leyva Aguilar who was was murdered on July 22, 2026, in Oaxaca.
One year ago, PBI-Mexico accompanied a delegation from Espacio OSC to Ottawa to call for a strengthening of Protection Mechanisms in Mexico for threatened journalists and human rights defenders.
The following year, on April 10, 2026, Elizabeth Mosqueda, the co-director of Consorcio Oaxaca who participated in that advocacy delegation to Ottawa, highlighted that Oaxaca has the second highest number of people incorporated into the Federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists,
Now, this September 21, Es Primera MX reports on a meeting of the independent National Union of Media Workers (Sindicato Nacional de Medios de Comunicación – SINMCO) in Oaxaca, Mexico that had the security and protection of media workers, as well as freedom of expression, and justice on its agenda.
The article notes that SINMCO general secretary Froylan Mendez Ferrer spoke about a protection policy built for media workers whether they work for “a large company, a small portal or independently.”
“Independent journalists and representatives of the delegations presented their positions on a law to protect journalists and communicators. In the end, the representative assembly unanimously approved the launch of the leyperiodistaoaxaca.org platform, scheduled for October 5, 2026.”
“The platform will serve to participate in the construction of a new law for the journalistic guild and to give it public follow-up.”
It then comments: “The path, however, has risks. A law only protects if it is approved, funded and enforced. [The union also recognizes] that useless institutions only add bureaucracy. [At the same time] SINMCO has proposed to the state government, in working groups, to install a state protection committee.”
Oaxaca Politico further reports: “The meeting served to review proposals ranging from the creation of state security protocols and evacuation routes for communicators at risk, to the proposal of emergency funds, insurance and training in digital security. Among the proposals were also the demand for specialized attention from the Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office and coordination mechanisms with the General Secretariat of Government for rapid responses. Union representatives pointed out that many of the measures already exist on paper, but fail to be implemented: without a budget, without deadlines and without follow-up, the proposals remain up in the air.”
The El Primera MX report concludes: “The measure for the next months will be whether the union’s proposals reach the offices where it is decided and if they manage to protect someone before the next aggression.”
Journalist Francisco Alejandro Leyva Aguilar was murdered on July 22, 2026, in San Pablo Etla in the state of Oaxaca. Reporters Without Borders notes that he was the seventh journalist killed in Mexico in 2026.
The full Es Primera MX article can be read in Spanish here.
Additional reading
–Two months after the murder of journalist Alejandro Leyva, peaceful protest is held in Oaxaca (El Universal Oaxaca, September 22, 2026)
–Participation of national and international organizations defending freedom of expression legitimizes Oaxaca’s Law for the Protection of Journalists (Libertad Oaxaca, September 21, 2026).
