By Joseph Shansky
Upside Down World
December 23, 2009
"As a revolutionary I will be today, tomorrow
and forever on the front lines of my people,
all the while knowing that I may lose my life."
- Walter Trochez, 25, murdered in Tegucigalpa
on December 13.
The bodies of slain activists are piling up in
Honduras. While it's being kept quiet in most Honduran
and international media, the rage is building among a
dedicated network of friends spreading the word quickly
with the tragic announcement of each companero/a.
Now that the world heard from mainstream news outlets
such as the New York Times of a "clean and fair"
election on Nov. 29 (orchestrated by the US-supported
junta currently in power), the violence has increased
even faster than feared.
The specific targets of these killings have been those
perceived as the biggest threats to the coup
establishment. The bravest, and thus the most
vulnerable: Members of the Popular Resistance against
the coup. Their friends and family. People who provide
the Resistance with food and shelter. Teachers,
students, and ordinary citizens who simply recognize
the fallacy of an un-elected regime taking over their
country. All associated with the Resistance have faced
constant and growing repercussions for their courage in
protesting the coup. With the international community
given the green light by the US that democratic order
has returned via elections, it's open season for
violent forces in Honduras working to tear apart the
political unity of the Resistance Front against the
coup.
The killings are happening almost faster than they can
be recorded.
On Sunday, Dec. 7, a group of six people were gunned
down while walking down the street in the Villanueva
neighborhood of Tegucigalpa. According to sources, a
white van with no license plates stopped in front of
the group. Four masked men jumped out of the van and
forced the group to get on the ground, where they were
shot. The five victims who were killed were:
- Marcos Vinicio Matute Acosta, 39
- Kennet Josua RameÂrez Rosa, 23
- Gabriel Antonio Parrales Zelaya, 34
- Roger Andres Reyes Aguilar, 22
- Isaac Enrique Soto Coello, 24
One woman, Wendy Molina, 32, was shot several times and
played dead when one of the assassins pulled her hair,
checking to see if anyone in the group was still alive.
She was taken to the hospital and survived.
The Honduran independent newspaper El Libertador
reports that the group members were all organizers
against the coup. According to a resident in the area,
"The boys had organized committees so that the
neighbors could get involved in the Resistance Front."
This massacre was part of a string of Resistance-
related murders during the past few weeks alone. On
December 3, Walter Trochez, 25 a well-known activist in
the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
community was snatched off the street and thrown into a
van, again by four masked men, in downtown Tegucigalpa.
In the report that he later filed to local and national
authorities, Walter said he was interrogated for hours
for information on Resistance members and activities,
and was beaten in the face with a pistol for refusing
to speak. He was told that he would be killed
regardless, and he eventually escaped by throwing open
the van door, falling into the street, and running
away.
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