MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government said Monday that 68 human rights and environmental activists have been killed during the current administration, and 43 journalists have been murdered.

The issue came to a head in late May and early June, when in the space of a month, three activists were gunned down in separate incidents.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, took office Dec. 1, 2018, had promised to protect journalists, but critics have questioned whether the government is doing enough.

The Interior Department said Monday that 1,478 activists and journalists are currently receiving government protection, but nine of those killed were in that protection program.

Many of the killings are believed to have been ordered by drug cartels, people with crooked businesses or corrupt officials, but relatively few of the cases have been solved.

The Associated Press