CIRO GOMEZ LEYVA

Journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva survived an attempted murder on 15 December 2022 in Mexico City, when gunmen on a motorcycle fired multiple shots at his armoured vehicle while he was driving home. Mexican authorities opened an investigation and classified the attack as attempted homicide linked to organised crime. 

Throughout 2024 and 2025, multiple defendants accepted responsibility through abbreviated judicial procedures, allowing courts to issue prison sentences against several of them.  On 16 December 2025, a Mexican judge sentenced Armando Escárcega, identified by prosecutors as the leader of the criminal cell that organised the attack, to 14 years’ imprisonment. Twelve other individuals also received prison terms.  However, concerns remain regarding the full motive for the attack and whether all intellectual authors have been identified, an issue that continues to be raised publicly in connection with the case and the broader climate of violence against journalists in Mexico. 

Ciro Gómez Leyva (1957) is one of Mexico’s most prominent journalists with decades of experience in print, radio and television journalism. He is the author of the book No me pudiste matar (You couldn’t kill me) (Editorial Planeta, 2025).