Gay activist assassinated in Honduras
Walter Trochez, 25, a well-known LGBT activist in Honduras who was an active member of the National Resistance Front against the coup d'etat there, was assassinated on the evening of Dec. 13, shot dead by drive-by killers in central Tegucigalpa. Trochez, who had already been arrested and beaten after participating in a march against the coup, had been very active recently in documenting and publicizing homophobic killings and crimes committed by the forces behind the coup. He had been trailed for weeks before his murder by thugs believed to be members of the state security forces.
In an open letter documenting the wave of homophobic assassinations, he wrote last month: "Once again we say it is NOT ACCEPTABLE that in these past 4 months, during such a short period, 9 transexual and gay friends were violently killed, 6 in San Pedro Sula and 3 in Tegucigalpa." At the end of the letter, Trochez declared, "As a revolutionary, I will always defend my people, even if it takes my life." (Direland blog, Adital, Dec. 14)
See our last post on Honduras.
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Another killing in Honduras
Gunmen on a motorcycle attacked the car of Honduran TV commentator Karol Cabrera in Tegucigalpa, missing her but killing her pregnant daughter Dec. 16. The daughter, Katherine Rodriguez, 26, was driving the car. She was eight months pregnant, and doctors saved her baby boy. Cabrera's works for state-run Channel 8, and has supported Roberto Michelleti's de facto government. Micheletti wasted no time in blaming coup opponents for the killing. "I'll say it again: Hit men from the resistance are the assassins of the girl," Micheletti said during a public event that evening. The National Resistance Front Against the Coup denounced Micheletti for making accusations without presenting proof. (AP, Dec. 16)
Honduras: soccer wars behind Rodríguez Cabrera killing?
On Dec. 17 Francisco Murillo López, head of the National Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DNIC), indicated that the likely cause of the Rodríguez Cabrera murder was a fight between youth groups supporting two different local soccer teams, the Olimpia and Motagua clubs. There are reports that Rodríguez Cabrera's boyfriend was connected to one of these groups. Attorney Fredin Funes of the Lawyers' Front Against the Coup d'Etat charged that Micheletti's statements were irresponsible and that the de facto president "is inciting [people] to repression and revenge." (EFE, Dec. 16; El Tiempo, San Pedro Sula, Dec. 16, 18; La Tribuna, Dec. 17)
From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Dec. 20