Brazilian Adriano Bachega, 53, who worked as a journalist and business consultant in Mexico, was shot dead last Tuesday morning (3), on a busy avenue that connects the cities of Monterrey, where he lived, and San Pedro Garza García, both in the state of Nuevo León, in the northeast of the country.
His brother, Wesley Bachaga, confirmed the death on his Facebook profile. “In the blink of an eye, our life changed completely,” he said, describing his brother, born in Araucária, Paraná, as a good-humored and generous person.
“On Monday you sent me a message, excited, saying that the tickets had been purchased and that we would soon be in Mexico, close to you”, he continued, referring to a trip he would take to the country. “Not only were you my brother, but you were also my friend and my biggest supporter.”
According to the Azteca Noticias portal, armed men in two cars opened fire while he was driving. After the attack, the attackers fled, and the victim’s vehicle advanced until it reached the median, according to the local press. The Brazilian was reportedly shot with ten shots and died instantly.
On his professional page, Bachega presented himself as editor-in-chief of Diario Digital Online, a local news portal, speaker and consultant with experience in managing small and medium-sized companies and managing construction companies. From 2009 to 2016, according to Azteca Noticias, the Brazilian worked at Odebrecht, now Novonor.
This is the second case of its kind involving a journalist in less than a week in the state. On Sunday, reporter Victoria Monserrat García Álvarez was shot in the arm in the city of Montemorelos, 80 kilometers from Monterrey, but survived, according to the website El Economista.
After the attack in Victoria, the state Assembly approved a request to the governor to strengthen the security of local communications professionals.
Mexico is one of the countries that kill the most journalists in the Americas – since 2000, more than 150 press professionals have been murdered in the nation, according to a report from Amnesty International in March this year.
The number adds to other indices that reveal the level of Mexican violence, such as violent deaths, for example, which have reached 450,000 since 2006, the year in which the government launched a controversial anti-drug operation.
It is not known, however, whether Bachega’s death is related to his work in the press. When questioned, Itamaraty stated that it does not provide data on individual cases, but that it monitors the incident and made itself available to family members to provide consular assistance.
