Crime reporter
Norma Sarabia Garduza
Profile
Norma Sarabia was a Mexican journalist working primarily in the southeastern state of Tabasco. Throughout her career, she wrote for various regional newspapers, including Cambio de Puebla, Sol del Sureste, and Tabasco Hoy, where she had been a reporter for 20 years. She also contributed to the news website Presente.mx.
Specialist in the criminal and police sections, Norma Sarabia Garduza worked for many newspapers in the region, including Cambio de Puebla, Soldel Sureste, the Presente.mx site and the daily Tabasco Hoy for which she had been writing for 20 years. She was murdered in Tabasco state in June after failing to obtain protection despite having been threatened over a series of articles about local police corruption.
Activity
Sarabia’s investigative reporting often focused on crime and corruption, leading to her receiving threats. After publishing stories that implicated local police officers in a kidnapping, she filed a formal complaint with federal authorities against Huimangillo police chief Héctor Tapia Ortíz and deputy police chief Martín Leopoldo García de la Vega. Despite the complaint, no actions were taken, and her request for protection was denied.
Comments
On 12 June 2019, Sarabia was murdered outside her home in Huimangillo, Tabasco. Masked men shot her as she sat on her veranda. Sarabia became the sixth journalist to be killed in Mexico in 2019, further highlighting the dangers faced by reporters in regions plagued by organized crime and corruption.