Resistance Activists Murdered

Mario Contreras, age 50, subdirector of the Instituto Abelardo Fortín, was shot and killed Friday in Tegucigalpa by unknown assailants on a motorcycle,Telesur and Tiempo report. Bertha Oliva, head of the Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras said they haven't yet determined whether it was an act of delinquents or a political act. Oliva noted that Contreras had received anonymous death threats. Because he was shot in the face by two assailants on a motorcycle, a common assassination technique in Honduras, the Centro para the Prevención, Tratamiento, y Rehabilitación de las Victimas de la Tortura y sus Familiares concluded that this was not a robbery attempt.

Also killed yesterday under suspicious circumstances was a Lenca leader of the Resistance, Antonio Leiva His lifeless body was found in an hamlet in Santa Barbara after he was kidnapped in Tegucigalpa.