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Massacre at Los Horcones Commemorated

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Honduras today commemorates the 35th anniversary of the Horcones Massacre (Masacre Los Horcones) in the department of Olancho. On June 25, 1975, 14 religious leaders, peasant farmers, and students were murdered by the Honduran military on a ranch owned by José Manuel Zelaya, father of former president Manuel Zelaya. The victims were on their way to Tegucigalpa to participate in a "March for Hunger" to demand the return of lands that had allegedly been stolen by wealthy landowners. Mr. Zelaya, along with Major José Enrique Chincilla, Lieutenant Benjamin Silver, and Carlos Bahr were charged with having orchestrated the massacre. They were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The men were released after only serving a year in prison following an amnesty decree passed by Honduras' National Constituent Assembly in September 1980. The brutal killings have regularly surfaced as a source of controversy throughout the political life of former president Zelaya. Land disputes between peasant organizations such as the Unified Peasant Movement of Aguán (MUCA) and wealthy landowners remain a potentially explosive social and economic issue in Honduras. (6/25/10) (graphic courtesy Internet)

Comments (2)
And everybody in Olancho knows the truth...
2 Sunday, 27 June 2010 21:23
Alan
Please...
The real story is...Rape rage...
1 Sunday, 27 June 2010 21:23
Alan
The caravan was priests and nuns and two or three others with them, on the road to Tegucigalpa. One of their vehicles broke down at a very late hour of the night, on the road that runs by the Zelaya property. He was a man well known in the community, and they asked if he could provide shelter for the night.

He took them in, but before the night was over he had slaughtered them all. The best explanation was that one of the nuns had refused his advances, because among other things, she was raped and here breasts had been cut off.

This has to be another good reason Hondurans rich and poor were especially alarmed at the prospect of a lifetime Zelaya presidency.
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