Assassination of indigenous leader shocks western Honduras
January 10, 2022
January 9, 2022 by americanpost
This Sunday the indigenous leader Pablo Isabel Hernández was shot dead in the department of Lempira, in western Honduras, denounced the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in the country (Cofadeh) and other organizations.
The incident occurred in the municipality of San Marcos de Caiquín when men with firearms intercepted the human rights defender and shot him.
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Hernández had repeatedly denounced that he was being subjected to “persecution, threats of stigma and hatred” by the authorities of the municipality of San Marcos de Caiquín, Committee activists said.
The victim was also a religious leader of his community, an environmentalist, and a promoter of an indigenous and peoples university.
https://www.americanpost.news/assassination-of-indigenous-leader-shocks-western-honduras/
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Lenca indigenous leader shot to death in Honduras
By Associated PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS |
JAN 10, 2022 AT 1:17 PM
TEGUCIGALPA — The blood of indigenous leaders ran again in Honduras, when a well-known leader of the Lenca ethnic group in the west of the country was shot to death on Sunday.
This is Pablo Isabel Hernández, who was shot several times by unknown assailants when he was on his way to a church in the municipality of San Marcos de Caiquín, department of Lempira, accompanied by a brother and his father. The armed men fled. It is the first homicide of an indigenous leader in Honduras in 2022.
The head of strategic communications for the Police Directorate of Investigations (DPI), Cristian Manuel Nolasco, confirmed to The Associated Press that Hernández was ambushed on a narrow dirt road. He also said that Hernández had been threatened and was harassed for defending his ideals and the rights of the indigenous people, for which he filed a complaint with the authorities.
Hernández promoted the Indigenous and Peoples University, was mayor of the Auxiliaría de La Vara alta de Caiquín, coordinator of the base ecclesial communities and president of the Network of Agroecologists of the Cacique Lempira Lord of the Mountains Biosphere.
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Honduras is considered one of the most dangerous countries for environmental activism. According to research by Global Witness published in 2017, more than 120 people have died since 2010, but the figure for 2020 increased significantly. The most notorious crime to date is that of environmentalist Berta Cáceres, shot to death on March 3, 2016 by unknown assailants who entered her home in the municipality of La Esperanza, department of Intibucá.
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/espanol/sns-es-asesinan-a-balazos-a-lider-indigena-lenca-en-honduras-20220110-xlxpiss2evcl5ftmyybpwhoaaa-story.html
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Indigenous Lenca leader shot dead in Honduras, police say
Jan. 9, 2022
Updated: Jan. 9, 2022 8:42 p.m.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A local leader of Honduras’ indigenous Lenca group was shot to death Sunday, police said. Pablo Isabel Hernández was killed on a dirt road near the town of San Marcos de Caiquín as he headed to a local church with his father and brothers, police spokesman Cristian Manuel Nolasco said. Nolasco said the ambush may have been related to personal or political disputes. Hernández served as director of a radio station known as “Radio Tenan, the Indigenous Voice of the Lencas.” He was also active in indigenous education and environmental projects.
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Hernández was the second Lenca leader killed in less than a year. In March 2020, Lenca activist Juan Carlos Cerros Escalante was shot death in the town of Nueva Granada, in the Caribbean coast province of Cortes. He had helped lead a fight against construction of a dam. Hernández was the second Lenca leader killed in less than a year. In March 2020, Lenca activist Juan Carlos Cerros Escalante was shot death in the town of Nueva Granada, in the Caribbean coast province of Cortes. He had helped lead a fight against construction of a dam.
Both Hernández and Cerros Escalante belonged to the same indigenous community as Berta Cáceres, a prize-winning environmental and Indigenous rights defender who was murdered in 2016. According to rights groups, over three dozen environmental activists have been killed in Honduras since Cáceres' death.
Cáceres was a co-founder of the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras. She helped organize opposition to the Agua Zarca dam project, which was to be built on the Galcarque River. The river holds spiritual importance for the Lenca people as well as being a critical source of water. The dam project remains frozen.
https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Indigenous-Lenca-leader-shot-dead-in-Honduras-16762694.php
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