Mexico City, December 23 (RHC-teleSUR) -- According to a study released Tuesday, violence in Mexico continues to threaten freedom of the press in the country, with 14 journalists killed and two more disappeared in 2015 alone.

Mexico has the highest murder rate for journalists and media workers in Latin America and the Caribbean region and, according to the Commission to Investigate Crimes Against Journalists-Latin American Federation of Journalists, it is one of the world’s most dangerous places to be a reporter.

According to the commission’s report, Honduras is the second most dangerous country for the press in Latin America, with 10 journalists violently killed this year, following by Brazil with eight, Colombia with five and Guatemala with three murders.

Haiti, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic were tied at sixth, each reporting one journalist assassination.

So far, 43 journalists and media workers have been killed in the region this year, a 60 percent increase in the number of victims since 2006, says the report.

However, no journalists or media workers were killed in 16 countries in the Americas, showing that the murders have been concentrated in certain areas.

Since 2006, a total of 342 journalists across 17 countries have been assassinated, added the report, with almost a third of those assassinations – 123 victims – occurring in Mexico. Honduras is second on that list, with 53 victims.

According to the study, 87 percent of journalists killed were local reporters and more than half worked online. 

The figures do not include forced disappearances, which are more difficult to trace since relatives fear reporting the crimes to officials.