According to journalist Edgardo Castro, the discussion of social issues such as speaking in favour of peasants, minimum salaries and in defense of workers, and against crime, is what makes the oligarchy threaten journalists.
(C-Libre/IFEX) – 7 May 2012, San Pedro Sula – Journalist Edgardo Castro, director of the Globo Televisión programme “El Látigo Contra la Corrupción”, has reported that during the broadcast of his show on 1 May 2012 he received death threats via 100 text messages.
“In my career as a journalist I have received many threats; during the coup d’état I was attacked and now that I broadcast on Globo TV the threats are daily,” said the journalist. “During the course of my show on 1 May I received 800 messages, 100 of which contained threats on my life”.
The threats made reference to Castro as a “pro-Manuel Zelaya Rosales pig” and someone who had defended the former Minister of the Presidency, Enrique Flores Lanza. The journalist thinks the threats are tied to the Honduran oligarchy led by 13 families. He said he thinks that he is also being threatened by children of peasants and workers who are now part of the security apparatus. “People named Kattan, Facussé, Larach are using the police and the army to kill, terrify, extort and cause a sense of insecurity in the country”.
Castro said he has been given protection from the UN and OAS Human Rights Special Rapporteurs. He also said that “when the oligarchy thinks that someone is getting in their way, the first thing they do is silence people’s thoughts, and that is reflected in the killings of journalists and media workers. When a journalist gets threatened it is because they are doing good work for the benefit of the Honduran people”.
According to Castro, the discussion of social issues such as speaking in favour of peasants, minimum salaries and in defense of workers, and against crime, is what makes the oligarchy threaten journalists.
(Please note this is an abridged translation.)
