After telling his listening audience this week that American-made weapons intended for Honduras’ military wound up in the hands of drug cartels, radio journalist Arnulfo Aguilar found himself the target of a late-night attack outside his home.

 

Aguilar, director of Radio Uno, broadcast on his program that a U.S. State Department cable published by WikiLeaks revealed that light anti-tank weapons and grenades sold to the Honduran armed forces had been recovered in Mexico and Colombia.

 

On the night of April 27, Aguilar arrived outside his house in San Pedro Sula and spotted eight men nearby armed with rifles and wearing ski masks. When they ran towards him, the journalist ducked inside his front gate. Some of the attackers stormed Aguilar’s fence, but were scared off by his dogs and his pretending to be on the phone with police.

 

On March 14, 2010, TV anchor Nahúm Palacios Arteaga was shot to death in front of his house. Both Aguilar and Palacios opposed the military coup that swept to power in Honduras in June 2009.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Honduran Radio Director Ambushed by Gunmen (Committee to Protect Journalists)

Honduras Journalist Escapes Attack after Reporting on Wikileaks Cable (by Eric Dolan, Raw Story)

Director of Radio Uno Survives Assassination Attempt (by murielsoy, Honduras: Human Rights)

Obama Administration Weakens Stance on Honduras, Zelaya (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Cable: Lax Honduran Controls on U.S.-Supplied Weapons (WikiLeaks)