The Lonesome Death of Pedro Munoz (Honduras)

[Judi Lynn]

October 27, 2009
The Lonesome Death of Pedro Munoz
A young Honduran activist was almost certainly tortured and killed by the military.
By Jeremy Kryt

TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS—Despite the intense repression that has plagued Honduras since the military-backed coup in June—including random beatings and sexual assaults by cops and soldiers, and the gassing and shooting of peaceful demonstrators–there is still one case that stands out above the rest, unique in its grisly details and implications.

For many in the pacifist, anti-coup resistance movement, the story of the detention, torture and killing of a young protester named Pedro Munoz in July has become a powerful inspiration to continue the struggle. For others, it is a grim reminder of the lengths the coup regime will go to as it struggles for hegemony.

“The police put this man through agony before they killed him—that was done to send a message, about the price of involvement in the Resistance,” said Mery Agurcia, the human rights case worker in charge of the ongoing investigation into Munoz’s death, when we spoke in her office. “But, of course, nothing can be proven against those who did it. Since the coup, there’s no longer any kind of transparency in the government.”

The turmoil in Honduras began last June 28, when democratically-elected President Mel Zelaya was forcibly sequestered and exiled by the military, which traditionally serves the country’s economic elite. Zelaya had been pushing for political and economic reforms intended to combat poverty and promote democracy, but such amendments threatened the ruling class’s hold on power.

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http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/5096/the_lonesome_death_of_pedro_munoz/