Mexico City, June 3, 2026—Mexican authorities must immediately investigate the abduction of journalist Roxana Berenice Guzmán Rodríguez, establish the motive and ensure she is freed unharmed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
Guzmán, the founder and editor of the Facebook-based news website Pulso Informativo del Sureste, was taken by unidentified armed men on Tuesday in Nanchital, a town in the eastern Mexican coastal state of Veracruz, according to a statement by the state’s prosecutor’s office, which added that state authorities opened an investigation into the kidnapping.
“The brazen kidnapping of Roxana Guzmán in broad daylight is shocking even in Mexico, which holds the abysmal status of being the country with the highest number of disappeared journalists in the world,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “The alarming incident once again reveals how criminal violence and impunity continue to make Mexico the deadliest country for journalists in the western hemisphere, and it is imperative that authorities in Veracruz ensure Guzmán’s return to her family and bring her attackers to justice.”
A video shared widely on social media on Tuesday morning shows how an unidentified man used a heavy tool to break down the door of Guzmán’s residence while a second unidentified male pointed a gun and threatened Guzmán and her family. According to news reports and the prosecutor’s office’s statement, she was taken shortly after. Her whereabouts are unknown and it is not known if the attackers demand a ransom for her release.
Guzmán’s website Pulso Informativo del Sureste publishes mostly local news, including recent stories on infrastructure, traffic accidents, issues with power and water and, occasionally, minor crime in Nanchital and its surroundings. The website has approximately 21,000 followers.
According to the Veracruz State Commission for Attention to and Protection of Journalists (CEAPP), Guzmán had not recently reported any threats to the institution. According to news reports, her previous husband was shot dead in 2017, but no details on the motive of that killing or whether his killing may be related have been made public.