Activists gathered outside London’s Mexican Embassy in memory of the journalists killed in Mexico so far this year.
Marking the Day of the Dead, which takes place on 1 November each year, they laid candles and placards outside the embassy near Oxford Circus.
The names of the nine journalists killed or disappeared since the start of 2025 were read out.
The latest murder was reported at the end of October, after Mexican journalist Miguel Angel Beltrán’s body was found alongside an ominous note indicating he had been targeted for his reporting on cartel violence in the state of Durango, according to local media.
In March, the killing of Mexican journalist Kristian Zavala sparked outrage after it was revealed she was murdered despite being enrolled in the government’s journalist protection programme.
Day of the Dead is a festival celebrated by Mexicans across the world. Traditionally, Mexicans take to the streets in colourful costume to honour the deceased.
The group of activists in London hand delivered a letter to the Mexico’s UK ambassador asking her to relay their concerns to the central Mexican government.
Alicia Quinones, from PEN International, a writers association which defends journalists around the world, explained the importance for calling for action in London.
She said: “Mexico is the country with the most cases of journalists killed in the continent … It is important to raise awareness across the world of this situation and we are calling to the Mexican Embassy to do something about it.”
According to Reporters without Borders, more Latin American journalists were murdered in the first six months of this year than in all of 2024.
In Mexico, 90% of cases since the year 2000 where journalists were killed or disappeared have not resulted in a conviction.
Chloe Aridjis, a Mexican writer and author of the award-winning Book of Clouds (2009), expressed her frustration at the level of impunity for cases of this kind in Mexico.
She said: “It’s very depressing and dispiriting that over the decades nothing has changed and there’s been ongoing silencing of the press and what feels like less and less freedom of expression in Mexico.
“Every journalist reporting on drug cartel activity, government corruption, [and] organised crime, has to really weigh between the threat of revealing the truth, and the very direct threat to their lives.”
Representatives from Amnesty International UK also participated in the vigil, urging the ambassador to put pressure on President Claudia Sheinbaum to strengthen protections for journalists in Mexico.
During her 2024 election campaign, President Sheinbaum pledged that she would improve safety of those working in media.
She promised to review the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, which is currently in place. She also said she would set up a working group to oversee the implementation of these increased protections.
However, Xavier Wiltshire, Amnesty International UK’s country coordinator for Mexico, said: “Clearly due to [Mexico] still having one of the highest homicide rates for journalists, the mechanism isn’t doing an amazing job.
“My aim today specifically was to … construct a dialogue on how to reform this mechanism and how to protect journalists in the future to not be killed and to be able to continue their journalistic practice without fear of violence.”
This comes after a report from Amnesty International in 2024 which revealed that eight Mexican journalists had been killed whilst under police protection in the last seven years.
Explaining why he attended the vigil in London Daniel Gorman, director of English PEN, the UK branch of PEN International, said: “It’s so important that the international community here in London and around the world call for this to end.
“Journalism, the freedom to write and the freedom to read, is a bedrock of democracy, and we need to do everything we can to try and protect it.”
Featured image credit: Bea Twentyman
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