A Mexican journalist who survived a kidnapping in the state of Veracruz said he believes the gunmen were going to kill him. Authorities rescued the man after a shootout.

Mexican authorities rescued Mauricio Miranda during the early hours of Thursday in a rural area of Boca Del Rio, Veracruz. The journalist was held captive for more than 12 hours. A team of gunmen kidnapped Miranda outside his home on Wednesday morning, one day after another journalist in Tabasco, Norma Sarabia, was murdered.

Miranda later sent out a video where he recalled his rescue. The journalist said that around 1 a.m., the gunmen were going to move him from one stash house to another, but he suspects they had another reason for the move.

“I think they were going to kill me,” Miranda said.

In the video, the journalist said the gunmen were driving him to the other house and turned onto a dirt road, but a group of police officers patrolling the area late at night thought the vehicle was suspicious.

“That is when the shootout began. I dropped to the bottom of the car, from the backseat where they put me,” Miranda said. “The car was completely riddled with bullets, not a single bullet hit me. The gunmen ran away into the brush … I don’t wish this on anyone.”

Miranda’s kidnapping comes at a time when there have been seven journalists murdered in 2019 and nine since Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in December.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.