The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has investigated murders of journalists in the Americas, coming to the conclusion in the majority of cases that justice has been slow to be done because of negligence, apathy and irregularities.

The IAPA is determined to put an end to such impunity, a task in which it has the wide support of the international community that is signing this letter. That is why we take the liberty of calling your attention to the death of journalist Armando “El Choco” Rodríguez, which occurred in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on November 13, 2008.

Hired assassins shot him as he sat in his car outside his home with his eldest daughter. The crime appears to be linked to reports he published in El Diario de Ciudad Juárez about corruption, violence and the illicit drug trade. Nothing is yet known about the investigation into the incident, nor whether anyone has been arrested or charged.

We ask for your good offices, Mr. President, to see that the relevant authority speeds up the investigation, have the crime solved and the culprits harshly punished. Only in that way will the death “El Choco” Rodríguez not become just another statistic in the list of unsolved murders in the Americas.

Sincerely,

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