Honduras Indigenous Leader Assassinated in Front of Children

AN INDIGENOUS leader and left-wing campaigner in Honduras was gunned down by assassins in front of his children on Boxing Day.

Felix Vasquez was the secretary-general of the Union of Rural Workers (UTC) and a national congress candidate for the left-wing LIBRE party. The leader of his Lenca indigenous community in the La Paz region of the troubled Central American country.

At 8:30 PM on Saturday, 26th of December, a gang of balaclava-clad assassins stormed his family home in the village of Ocotal. Armed with machetes and 9mm pistols, they murdered Vasquez and terrorised his young children, who had already lost their mother last year. Several months ago, the indigenous leader had reported death threats he’d received to authorities.

The beloved community figure was a committed campaigner against the takeover of natural reserve land by big landowners, as well as advocating the rights or rural citizens and indigenous people in Honduras.

His brutal assassination has been condemned across the country, with former President Manuel Zelaya tweeting: “We condemn the murder of Felix Vasquez, indigenous leader, defender of rivers and forests”.

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