Another Honduran journo slain

A northern Honduran reporter has become the latest journalist slain by the “ongoing violence” in that Central American country.

Radio and TV reporter Nahum Palacios Arteaga was killed on Sunday after unknown gunmen attacked him in his car. Police claimed that Arteaga was specifically targeted “because a total of 41 shots were fired at his car.” Two other passengers in the car including a cameraman were wounded in the brazen attack.

Arteaga has become the third journalist murdered in the past two weeks in Honduras. The killings against members of the media led dozens of journalists to protest in San Pedro Sula as well as public condemnation from the French government. None of the three murders have been solved, a sad fact that comes as no surprise to the head of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ):

"This spate of murders targeting journalists in Honduras shows the alarming level of increasing political violence in the country," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary.

"There is a disturbing trend of targeting of journalists in a cold-blooded series of planned assassinations"…

The IFJ says journalists are victims of organized crime as the country struggles to restore political dialogue and law and order in the wake of last year's coup d'état which sparked political unrest in the country. The Federation accused at the time the coup leaders of attacking journalists and closing media in Honduras.



"Journalists are extremely vulnerable in Honduras as impunity is taking hold in the country," added White. "Every effort must be made to protect journalists and restore the rule of law and order to the streets."

Image- New York Times (Honduras’ de facto government came under fire last year for limiting the press such as the temporary closing of Globo radio station).
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, news24.com, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, AP, La Prensa Grafica, International Federation of Journalists