Honduran journalist and congressman-elect flees to Chicago after death threats

By Honduras Accompaniment Project

After the assassination of several of his colleagues and credible death threats against him, elected opposition Congressman Edgardo Castro arrives in Chicago 

Honduran journalist Edgardo Castro of Radio Globo and TV Globo, who was recently elected to the Honduran congress for the opposition LIBRE (Freedom and Refoundation) party born of the resistance against the 2009 coup d’état, is in Chicago after fleeing death threats in Honduras. Just last Saturday, one of his colleagues at Radio Globo, Juan Carlos Argeñal, was killed after similar threats. Honduras is the murder capital of the world and has had more assassinations of journalists than any other country since the coup d’état in 2009 that ousted democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya, who is now the chairperson for the newly-created opposition LIBRE party.

While Edgardo Castro was receiving death threats already do to his denunciations of corruption in Honduras, opposition to the current government and candidacy for congress, the threats have increased dramatically since his recent election, particularly after he denounced bribery offers from current congressman and head of national security Oscar Alvarez in the wake of his election.

Castro arrives in Chicago two weeks after the disputed Honduran elections of November 24th, which is party LIBRE and another new party, the Anti-Corruption Party or PAC, are both challenging as fraudulent. Both parties have presented extensive evidence of vote-buying, purchasing of credentials for election judges, manipulation of vote tally sheets, killings and intimidation of party members and other irregularities.

Castro will be in Chicago until at least next Monday December 15th hoping to let the situation calm a bit and raise his international profile as a means of protection against the government killing him upon his return.

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