<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">A Mexican journalist who was also a former local official was shot dead Tuesday in the country's central Puebla region, authorities said.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Marco Aurelio Ramirez, 69, was killed in broad daylight as he left his home in the town of Tehuacan. He had worked for decades for several different media outlets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An investigation into the crime was opened, the prosecutor's office said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Mexican branch of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that Ramirez, working as a civil servant, had contributed to the arrest of suspected criminals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"RSF calls for a swift and transparent investigation," the non-governmental media rights group said, to determine "whether the homicide was related to his work as a municipal official or to his practice of journalism."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than 150 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000, according to RSF. Most of the murders have gone unpunished. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>