Secundino Ruiz, chair of the Authentic Vindicator Movement of Peasants of Aguan (MARCA) and the vice-chair of the Unified Peasant Movement of Aguan (MUCA), Pedro Salgado were killed. Salgado’s wife, Reina Mejia was also murdered by hit men.

Last Friday, hundreds of police and military had been deployed in Valle del Bajo Aguan, located in the northeast of Honduras, to put an end to the violence that unleashed in the conflict over land. So far and as result of the clashes, 11 people had died that week, adding to the over 50 who died in the recent months.

According to declarations of the peasant leaders to AFP news agency, the peasants were afraid that the military and the police supported the forces of the area’s land owners.

“They do not do anything for us but they are here to help the landowner’s hit men to kill people”, Pedro Garcia told AFP in “La Confianza” community, a settlement surrounded by palm oil plantations in Bajo Aguan.

As the peasants had warned, the police and military presence in the area did not prevent the surge of violence in the area: in fact, leaders Ruiz and Salgado were killed over the weekend, thus increasing the signals of alert of the grassroots movement.

“The bloodshed, the murder of peasants continue, even if there are no military facilities in the area”, peasant leader Rafael Alegria told Real World Radio. He explained that five leaders of the peasant movement of Aguan had been killed.

“The situation is quite difficult, very dramatic indeed. In these cases the direct responsible for the incidents have not been identified. The situation is tense, scary and painful. All the sectors are truly concerned”, said Alegria.

He pointed out that in the coming days the peasant movements will define what measures it will take as a movement in an urgent meeting to analyze the situation.

Meanwhile, the leader made a call for international solidarity, so that human rights agencies visit Bajo Aguan and help stop the bloodbath against the peasant people.

Photo: http://www.rel-uita.org/