Nahúm Elí Palacios Arteaga

Nahúm Elí Palacios Arteaga (died March 14, 2010) was a Honduran journalist and reporter. Palacios was the news director for the Canal 5 television network in Aguán and the host of a news program on Radio Tocoa within the Colón Department along the Caribbean coast.^[1][1]

Biography

An investigative reporter, Palacios focused on local politics, drug trafficking and violence in Honduras.^[1] He was also known for reporting on an ongoing conflict between landowners and peasant farmers in the northern Aguán region of the country.^[1] Palacios reportedly received threats from members of the Honduran military in June 2009 for critical coverage of the 2009 Honduran coup d'état which ousted former President Manuel Zelaya.^[1] He also received anonymous death threats from criminal organizations operating in the country.^[1] The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urged the government to specifically protect Palacios in July 2009.^[1]

Assassination

Palacios was shot and killed at the age of 36 while driving to his home at approximately 10:30 pm on March 14, 2010.^[2] Palacios was driving in the northern city of Tocoa when two car came alongside his car and fired at his vehicle with AK-47 assault rifles. Palacios, who was shot several times, died at the scene of the attack.^[1] The car in which Palacios was travelling received 42 bullet holes in the attack.^[2] A woman in his car was treated for injuries at a local hospital, while a cameraman escaped the attack unharmed.^[2]

Palacios was one of five journalists to be killed in Honduras in March 2010.^[3]

Reaction

Palacios's killing triggered protests by dozens of journalists on March 15, 2010, in the city of San Pedro Sula.^[2] The journalists demanded an end to violence against colleagues in the country.^[2]

References