Sixteenth Journalist Murdered

Another journalist, Maya TV (Channel 66) on-air personality Noel Alexander Valladares was murdered this morning.  Valladares was shot to death in his car as it left the TV station after finishing his morning show.

There were four people in the car, Valladares, his wife, a driver, and a cameraman.  Valladares, his camera man, and the driver died.  His wife was severely wounded with bullet wounds in both legs.  She was rushed to the Tegucigalpa hospital.  Witnesses say that the murders wore police uniforms, stocking caps, and fired from either white sedan or a small pickup.

This is the third journalist murdered in Honduras this year, and the 16th since the beginning of Lobo Sosa's government. In the four years prior to that, there had been only 1 journalist murdered.

So much for Foreign Minister Arturo Corrales's message of "progress" to the US Congress on journalist murders in Honduras.