Nahúm Elí Palacios Arteaga (died March 14, 2010) was a Honduran journalist and

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. 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 The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

coast.

Biography

An investigative reporter, Palacios focused on local politics,

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

and violence in Honduras. He was also known for reporting on an ongoing conflict between landowners and peasant farmers in the northern Aguán region of the country. 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. He also received anonymous death threats from criminal organizations operating in the country. The

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme'', ...

(IACHR) urged the government to specifically protect Palacios in July 2009.

Assassination

Palacios was shot and killed while driving home at approximately 10:30 pm on March 14, 2010. Palacios was driving in the northern city of Tocoa when two cars 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. The car in which Palacios was travelling received 42 bullet holes in the attack. A woman in his car was treated for injuries at a local hospital, while a cameraman escaped the attack unharmed. Palacios was 36 years old when he died. Palacios was one of five journalists to be killed in Honduras in March 2010.

Reaction

Palacios's killing triggered protests by dozens of journalists on March 15, 2010, in the city of

San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula () is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 671,460 ...

. The journalists demanded an end to violence against colleagues in the country.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palacios-Arteaga, Nahum Eli Year of birth missing 1970s births 2010 deaths Assassinated Honduran journalists Male journalists People from Colón Department (Honduras)