#ABDUCTION ORLANDO FREE#

Protests erupted in Triunfo de la Cruz immediately after the five men’s disappearance.

“We cannot believe these lies,” she adds. “The president’s brother is in prison in the United States for drug trafficking, but they don’t talk about that,” she says referring to the October 2019 cocaine trafficking conviction in a New York court of Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, the brother of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who has also been accused of being involved with drug traffickers. The same government, which actually is involved with drug trafficking,” says Carla Garcia, Ofraneh’s international relations coordinator. “ is trying to link them to the gangs, to the drug traffickers. Since their abductions, suspicious unmarked vehicles have been spotted driving into Triunfo de la Cruz several times, Miranda says.Ībout a week after the five men were taken, Honduran media reported a big plastic bag was found in San Pedro Sula carrying belongings that allegedly belong to some of the men, including Centeno’s alleged passport, cellphones, computers, firearms, and a plastic bag with “unidentified white powder.” Nearly two weeks after the kidnapping, Centeno’s whereabouts remain unknown, along with the four others, Milton Joel Martínez, Suami Aparicio, Gerardo Mizael Rochez, who are members of Ofraneh, and Junior Rafael Juárez. “ Since the coup, police and military have the freedom to do whatever they want.” The 11-year anniversary of the 2009 U.S.-backed coup that pushed out President Manuel Zelaya was commemorated on June 28. “The beast is on the loose,” Miranda says referring to Honduran police and military. Garífuna communities along the northern coast of Honduras are also in the path of routes for drug traffickers transporting narcotics to the United States through the Caribbean Coast of Central America. In the case of Honduras, the Garífuna Coast’s vast biodiversity makes the region extremely attractive to destructive foreign investors, who with the help of Honduran elite and corrupt politicians, have for years been appropriating beaches and wetlands for the construction of tourism projects. Garífuna Afro-Indigenous communities like Triunfo de la Cruz dot the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Belize.

#ABDUCTION ORLANDO FREE#

The only entities with free mobility during those times are the police and military, she says. It was a weekend, and Miranda says residents weren’t allowed to circulate due to a strict coronavirus lockdown. They broke into their homes and forced the five men into the unmarked vehicles at gunpoint.

Community witnesses say the abductors arrived in Triunfo de la Cruz in three 4x4 vehicles. “He won the respect of community members of all generations,” Miranda says of the beloved Garífuna land defender and father of four, who is also a member of Ofraneh.Ĭenteno is among the five Garífuna men who were abducted from their homes in Triunfo de la Cruz on July 18, by heavily armed men reportedly wearing police uniforms. The 27-year-old is an inspiration to other Garífuna youth living across northern coastal towns in Honduras, says Miriam Miranda, Garífuna leader and member of the Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras, Ofraneh). Alberth Sneider Centeno is the first young man, the first cipote, to become president of the Triunfo de la Cruz community board.

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