Indigenous environmental activist killed in Honduras
Felix Vasquez, a defender of environmental and human rights, died on Saturday after the assault in central Honduras.
Masked males armed with weapons and machetes have killed a Honduran environmentalist activist in entrance of his household, police stated on Monday, the newest in a string of such assaults within the Central American nation.
Felix Vasquez, a defender of environmental and human rights, died on Saturday evening after the assault within the village El Ocotal, in central Honduras.
A regulation enforcement spokesman advised the information company Reuters the killing was underneath investigation.
“Police authorities immediately decided to initiate a corresponding investigation … we hope to have an answer soon,” police official Kevin Hernandez advised journalists.
The violent killing met widespread condemnation. Former President Manuel Zelaya, who was deposed following a 2009 army coup, tweeted “We condemn the assassination of Felix Vasquez, Indigenous leader, defender of the rivers and forests”.
Condenamos asesinato de Félix Vásquez, dirigente, y líder indígena, defensor de los rios y los bosques, luchador de @PartidoLibre y pre candidato a diputado por @Somosmashn, Dept de la PAZ. @PartidoLibre
— Manuel Zelaya R. (@manuelzr) December 27, 2020
Honduras is among the world’s most harmful nations for activists, with 14 land and environmental defenders killed final yr, up from 4 individuals in 2018, in response to knowledge made out there by advocacy group Global Witness.
Vasquez, a member of the Indigenous Lenca neighborhood which lives within the mountainous area close to the border with El Salvador, had meant to run for Congress as a member of the opposition LIBRE occasion in 2021 elections.
He had filed complaints to nationwide authorities beginning in 2017 about alleged political persecution as a result of his work in environmental activism, in response to the Coalition in opposition to Impunity (CCI in response to its Spanish acronym), an NGO.
“The state is directly responsible for his murder due to its omissions in the face of the serious risks of which it was duly aware,” the CCI stated.
The Honduran authorities didn’t instantly reply to Reuter’s request for remark.
Women show a banner with a picture of slain environmental rights activist Berta Caceres at a march throughout International Women’s Day in San Jose, Costa Rica in 2019. The banner reads, ‘Berta will live in us’ [File: Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters]
Vasquez’s killing comes 4 years after the assassination of Lenca Indigenous activist Berta Caceres, a veteran land rights defender who led a battle in opposition to a big dam on ancestral lands earlier than she was shot to loss of life at her house.
