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<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span
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<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><b><font
face="Arial" size="4"><span
style="font-size: 14.5pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;">Seven
Honduran broadcasters slain since March 1<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
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color="#333333" face="Arial" size="1"><span
style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">A
friend of television journalist Jorge Orellana looks at his coffin. </span></font><font
color="#666666" face="Arial" size="1"><span
style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">(Edgard
Garrido - Reuters)</span></font><font color="#333333" face="Arial"
size="1"><span
style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><i><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic;">y
Anne-Marie
O'Connor<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Saturday, April 24, 2010 </span></font><font
face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span
aptureproxy="5" id="aptureStartContent">Honduran
television reporter Jorge Alberto "Georgino" Orellana had just left
the station where he hosted his own show when a man stepped from the
shadows,
shot him dead and vanished. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On
Tuesday, Orellana became the seventh Honduran
broadcaster to be gunned down since March 1 in a country where
complaints about
human rights abuses have increased since a military-led coup in June. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Most of
the victims had reported on organized crime in
the northern coastal region of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Honduras</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
a key transshipment point for U.S.-bound cocaine. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Reporters
Without Borders recently declared <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Honduras</st1:place></st1:country-region>
"the world's deadliest country for the media." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"This
is unprecedented," said Carlos Lauria
of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "Journalists
are
being targeted, and the state is almost absent. It's a green light for
these
people." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lauria
said the killings appeared to be "the work
of hit men, very professional." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jose
Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch said the
government of President Porfirio Lobo has shown little willingness to
solve <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.hrw.org/es/news/2009/08/25/honduras-rights-report-shows-need-increased-international-pressure"><font
color="#0c4790"><span style="color: rgb(12, 71, 144);">a pattern of
threats, harassment and
attacks</span></font></a> on grass-roots leaders, unionists and priests
since
the coup. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"Lobo
just recently woke up and realized this
could become a serious obstacle on his agenda to rejoining the
international
community," Vivanco said. "But it's not good enough. It's too little,
too late. They need to investigate and prosecute those responsible for
threats
and abuses. They need to prosecute those who are in bed with organized
crime." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lobo
has been trying to persuade the Organization of
American States to reinstate <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Honduras</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
which was suspended after the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya in
June. <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.oas.org/OASpage/press_releases/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-405/09"><font
color="#0c4790"><span style="color: rgb(12, 71, 144);">OAS Secretary
General Jose Miguel
Insulza said in December</span></font></a> that the reinstatement of <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Honduras</st1:place></st1:country-region>
"will only be possible when this country reaches a true restoration of
its
democratic regime and the outcome of the coup of June 28 has been
overcome." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lobo,
who was elected in November, insists that
democracy has been restored in this country of 7 million. "There is no
just reason to punish <st1:country-region w:st="on">Honduras</st1:country-region>,"
Lobo said Thursday, when he announced that he had requested assistance
from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Colombia</st1:place></st1:country-region>
and the FBI to solve the
killings. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Honduran
media watchdog groups say that finding a
single motive in the killings is difficult but that the modus operandi
in each
case is similar. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Two of
the journalists, Jose Bayardo Mairena and
Manuel Juarez, were driving through eastern <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Honduras</st1:country-region></st1:place> when assassins
riddled
their car with bullets on March 27 and then shot them at close range,
according
to media reports. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">…Both
men worked for a radio program that has
reported on under-the-table logging contracts awarded to private
enterprise in
violation of national environmental codes. Mairena had covered
organized crime
and a contentious land dispute. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Nahum
Palacios Arteaga, who had reported on the same
land dispute, was driving in the northern town of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Tocoa</st1:place></st1:City> on March 14 when gunmen in two
cars
fatally shot him with AK-47 assault rifles. Palacios had complained
about death
threats, which he believed came from the military. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">During
the coup, troops raided Palacios's office and
home, confiscated his car and equipment, and held his children at
gunpoint,
according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which had
urged
officials to provide him with security. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After
his death, the commission lamented "that
the state did not implement precautionary measures to protect his
life." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">David
Meza, a reporter for El Patio radio station, was
shot to death from a van March 11 as he drove in the lush seaside town
of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">La Ceiba</st1:place></st1:City>.
Meza, who had
reported on organized crime, had received anonymous calls warning him
to be
"careful," according to the media groups and local reports. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Joseph
Hernandez Ochoa, 26, an entertainment show
host, was shot to death as he drove home from work March 1. A radio
show host
who supported the coup, Karol Cabrera, was wounded in the attack and
believes
she was the target. Three months earlier, gunman had killed her
16-year-old
pregnant daughter. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Luis
Antonio Chavez, 22, who hosted a children's radio
program, was shot to death April 13. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Alexis
Quiroz, the executive director of the Committee
for Freedom of Expression in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Honduras</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
said professional killings have been used in a variety of disputes
since
Mexican organizations began recruiting Honduran gangs to transport
drugs. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p
style="background: white none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"Assassins
for hire are very common now,"
Quiroz said. "What we are trying to determine is the motive." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p><br>
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