Indigenous leader shot to death in Honduras | News
Honduran indigenous leader Pablo Isabel Hernández was shot dead this Sunday in the western department of Lempira, according to a complaint by the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared of that Central American nation (Cofadeh).
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The crime occurred in the municipality of San Marcos de Caiquín when armed men intercepted the director of the community radio station Tenán and shot him, said Cofadeh coordinator Bertha Oliva. According to Cofadeh, this would be the first homicide of an indigenous leader in Honduras in 2022.
The head of strategic communications of the Police Investigations Directorate (DPI), Cristian Manuel Nolasco, confirmed that Hernández was ambushed on a narrow dirt road.
#Alert | PABLO HERNÁNDEZ, INDIGENOUS LEADER, KILLED IN LEMPIRA, HONDURAS. There is another Lenca indigenous leader assassinated in the JOH government, it is Pablo Hernandez, from San Marcos, Caiquín in Lempira.
From the @MovAmplioHn we condemn this crime and demand justice. pic.twitter.com/zETyHa1s1n– Broad Movement (@MovAmplioHn)
January 9, 2022
Former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya condemned the murder of the indigenous leader.
The Association of Community Media in Honduras (AMCH) recalled in its complaint about the murder that Hernández was director of Radio Tenan, “La voz indigenous lenca”, from San Marcos de Caiquín: expression and defense of human rights (for which) our colleague Pablo Hernández works with commitment and dedication. “
We condemn the murder of the leader, Lenca; Pablo Hernandez. At any cost, justice must soon reign in Honduras. That is why the elections were won. @FreeParty
– Manuel Zelaya R. (@manuelzr)
January 10, 2022
According to the AMCH, Hernández had been threatened and harassed for defending his ideals and the rights of indigenous people, for which he filed a complaint with the authorities.
Pablo Isabel Hernández promoted the Indigenous and Peoples University, was mayor of the Auxiliary Office of La Vara Alta de Caiquín, coordinator of the base ecclesial communities and president of the Network of Agroecologists of the Cacique Lempira Señor de Las Montañas Biosphere.
