TEGUGIGALPA ( Associated Press) – Honduran officials were investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a land protector and a member of the Garifuna community in the Central American nation on Monday. The investigation seeks to determine whether it was an accident or a criminal hand, as the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (Ofraneh), an NGO, assures.
Within the framework of the investigation, the body of activist Ricardo Arnaul Montero was ordered to be exhumed so that the cause of his death could be established.
Ofraneh’s General Coordinator Mirian Miranda told The Associated Press, “He appears to be dead like he drowned and there was no autopsy, we don’t believe he was murdered.” ,
Montero died on Saturday night in the community of Triunfo de la Cruz, a Garifuna village located in Tela municipality in the Atlantida department in northern Honduras.
Miranda indicated that Montero lived alone in the area of the Gama River and was a well-known protector of lands in the area which, he said, were intended to be invaded by people who invade from other places and who are not Garifuna. . He said that for some years the Garifunas of Triunfo de la Cruz have denounced land protectors for rape, harassment and disappearances.
In October 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a judgment declaring the State of Honduras responsible for collective property rights violations to the detriment of the Triunfo de la Cruz Garifuna community.
“Since the sentencing, the struggle has escalated and will continue,” Miranda said.
Tulio Enrique Martinez, president of the Patronato del Triunfo de la Cruz, told the Associated Press that Montero’s death had been misrepresented and that there was no crime. “They want to defame our municipality in a way that drives away tourism,” he said.
In this regard, the spokesman of the Honduran Police Directorate of Investigation, Cristian Nolasco, said that they expect to clarify the case after the excavation and autopsy.
“Initially we assumed that the boy had drowned and community members rescued him and buried him,” he said. “As it is unclear if this was an accident, we are going to exhume his death to clarify and agree with all parties.”
