Honduras: Environmentalist brutally killed in front of family

Masked men armed with gunmen and weapons have killed an environmentalist worker in front of his family in Honduras, police said on Monday, the latest of such attacks in the Central American country.

Felix Vasquez, a defender of the environment and human rights, died on Saturday night after an attack in the village El Okotál in central Honduras.

A law enforcement spokesman told the news agency Reuters that an investigation into the murder was ongoing.

Police officer Kevin Hernández told reporters, "The police officers decided to launch a related investigation immediately ... We hope to get a response soon."

The violent killing was widely condemned. Former President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted after the 2009 military coup, tweeted, "We condemn the assassination of Felix Vasquez, the indigenous leader, the protector of rivers and forests".

According to data provided by the advocacy group Global Witness, Honduras is one of the world's most dangerous countries for activists, with 14 people killed by four land and environmental defenders in 2018 last year.

Vasquez, a member of the indigenous Lenca community living in the mountainous region near the border with El Salvador, intended to run for Congress in the 2021 elections as a member of the opposition LIBRE party.

He had filed complaints to national authorities starting in 2017 about alleged political harassment due to his work in environmental activism, according to the Coalition Against NGOs (CCI according to Imperial Spanish).

"The state is directly responsible for her assassination," said the CCI, who was responsible for her assassination due to the serious risks she faced. "

Vasquez’s murder comes four years after the assassination of Lenka indigenous activist Berta Caesar, a veteran land rights defender who led a fight against a large dam on ancestral land before dying at his home.