A group of armed individuals fired Friday last on the Televisa Laguna station's broadcasting facilities in the city of Torreón, in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, according to Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social (CENCOS) and ARTICLE 19.
The attack took place minutes after the facilities' workers left the building for lunch and several local media outlets have reported that more than 150 bullet casings were found at the scene. No one was injured. However, windows were broken and electrical cables damaged such that the facility was out of service for a little less than an hour.
This attack represents the third such action against facilities owned by media outlets in Torreón within a period of 18 months, CENCOS/ARTICLE 19 said. Most recently, on June 22, unidentified individuals fired shots at the Noticias de El Sol de la Laguna newspaper's offices in the city. The attacks bring to light the indifference and inadequacy of the Mexican authorities in dealing with violent actions against the media in the region, the two organisations said.
ARTICLE 19 and CENCOS expressed their solidarity with the Televisa Laguna workers and journalists in the region. The two organisations called on the authorities at the municipal, state and federal levels to ensure that journalists and media outlets are provided with the conditions necessary to safely carry out their work.
