Lourdes Maldonado López Explained

María de Lourdes Maldonado López (11 February 1969 – 23 January 2022) was a Mexican journalist.

Life and career

Maldonado López was born on 11 February 1969 in Gómez Palacio, Durango, and studied economics at the Autonomous University of Baja California.^[1] Throughout her career, Maldonado López had worked at several Mexican media outlets including Primer Sistema de Noticias, which is owned by former Baja California Governor Jaime Bonilla.^[2]

Maldonado López had been involved in a years-long labor dispute with PSN and Bonilla after suing the company for unfair dismissal and unpaid wages. Maldonado López was asking for more than $20,000 in back pay.^[2]

She asked Andrés Manuel López Obrador for protection at a press conference in 2019.^[3]

In January 2022, she won a lawsuit.^[4] Days later, on 23 January, she was shot and killed in a red Hyundai Atos vehicle in front of her home in Tijuana.^{[5] [6]} She was the third of four journalists killed in Mexico in January 2022, in what was reportedly the most violent month for journalists since 2011.^[7]

The killing of Lourdes Maldonado Lopez^[8] was condemned by the Director-General of the UNESCO Audrey Azoulay in a press-release published on the 26^th of January.^{[9] [10]}

Notes and References

1. News: ¿Quién era Lourdes Maldonado, periodista asesinada en Tijuana?. El Imparcial. 24 January 2022. 7 January 2023. es.
2. Web site: January 25, 2022. Katie. Campione. Slain Journalist's Dog Seen Lying Outside Her Home Seemingly Waiting for Her in Heartbreaking Images. 2022-01-31. PEOPLE.com. en.
3. Web site: 24 January 2022. Asesinan a Lourdes Maldonado, la periodista que pidió protección a AMLO en una rueda de prensa. 26 January 2022. abc. es.
4. Web site: Karol Suarez and David von Blohn. Mexican journalist Lourdes Maldonado López, who feared for her life, killed in Tijuana. 26 January 2022. CNN.
5. News: 24 January 2022. Mexico violence: Third journalist killed this year. en-GB. BBC News. 26 January 2022.
6. Web site: Slain Journalist's Dog Seen Lying Outside Her Home Seemingly Waiting for Her in Heartbreaking Images. 26 January 2022. www.msn.com.
7. News: 2022-02-05. Mexican journalists shocked with surge in targeted killings. en-GB. BBC News. 2022-02-05.
8. Web site: 25 January 2022 . 'Ongoing brutality': Lourdes Maldonado third journalist killed in Mexico in less than a month . 18 June 2023 . Committee to Protect Journalists.
9. Web site: 26 January 2022 . Director-General denounces murder of journalist Lourdes Maldonado Lopez in Mexico . 18 June 2023 . UNESCO.
10. Web site: Observatory of Killed Journalists . 18 June 2023 . UNESCO.