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Masked gunmen kidnap Veracruz reporter Roxana Guzmán in Nanchital

The Veracruz attorney general opened a Coatzacoalcos regional investigation as state police, the Navy and the National Guard launched a search after a video showed masked gunmen forcing entry into her home.

Jun 2, 2026, 7:34 PM EDT
Why it matters: A reporter was seized in a region long marked by deadly attacks on journalists; finding Roxana Guzmán alive is now urgent.
Driving the news:
  • Roxana Berenice Guzmán Ramírez, director of the local site Pulso Informativo del Sureste, was taken from her home in Nanchital, Veracruz, on the morning of June 2.
  • Witness video circulated on social media shows masked men using a mazo (battering ram) to break the front door and pointing long guns inside before removing her.
  • Veracruz's public security secretariat led a search that involved the Navy (Marina), the National Guard and the state's ministerial police.
  • The Veracruz Attorney General's Office opened a criminal investigation through the Fiscalía Regional Coatzacoalcos and assigned fiscales, peritos and ministerial police to the case.
  • Authorities have not reported arrests, Guzmán's location, or whether the abduction links to her reporting.
On the ground:
  • Family-shot footage shows at least two men in black breaking the aluminum door and smashing glass to gain entry.
  • A relative inside yells that a baby is present as an attacker points a long gun at occupants.
  • Neighbors, colleagues and local journalists demanded immediate action as police swept roads and checked CCTV and intermunicipal routes in the southern Veracruz corridor.
  • The Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists (CEAPP) sent a commissioner to accompany Guzmán's family.
What they're saying:
  • "Authorities must act with maximum diligence and coordination to guarantee her prompt location alive," said ARTICLE 19 Mexico and Central America, calling for the state's rapid response and for Guzmán's work to be treated as a priority line of investigation. — ARTICLE 19 (translated)
  • "The investigations will be carried out with strict adherence to the law, respect for human rights and protection of personal data," the Veracruz Attorney General's Office said, announcing the regional probe through Coatzacoalcos. — Veracruz Attorney General's Office (translated)
  • The CEAPP condemned the abduction and urged authorities to apply protection protocols for journalists and to prioritize locating Guzmán.
The backdrop:
  • Veracruz ranks among Mexico's most dangerous states for the press; rights groups and local outlets point to decades of murders and disappearances of reporters in the region.
  • ARTICLE 19 and local journalist collectives have repeatedly documented killings and threats tied to reporting in southern Veracruz municipalities like Coatzacoalcos and Minatitlán.
  • Local outlets warn that reconstructing routes out of Nanchital and reviewing private and public cameras will be key to tracing the attackers' escape.
The bottom line: Authorities launched a wide search and an official probe, but Guzmán's fate remains unknown and the case again exposes Veracruz's persistent danger for journalists.