| Nahúm Elí Palacios Arteaga | |
| Death Date: | March 14, 2010 |
Nahúm Elí Palacios Arteaga (died March 14, 2010) was a Honduran journalist and reporter. Palacios was the news director for the Canal 5 television network in Aguán and the host of a news program on Radio Tocoa within the Colón Department along the Caribbean coast.[1] [2]
An investigative reporter, Palacios focused on local politics, drug trafficking and violence in Honduras.[2] He was also known for reporting on an ongoing conflict between landowners and peasant farmers in the northern Aguán region of the country.[2] Palacios reportedly received threats from members of the Honduran military in June 2009 for critical coverage of the 2009 Honduran coup d'état which ousted former President Manuel Zelaya.[2] He also received anonymous death threats from criminal organizations operating in the country.[2] The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urged the government to specifically protect Palacios in July 2009.[2]
Palacios was shot and killed while driving home at approximately 10:30 pm on March 14, 2010.[3] Palacios was driving in the northern city of Tocoa when two cars came alongside his car and fired at his vehicle with AK-47 assault rifles. Palacios, who was shot several times, died at the scene of the attack.[2] The car in which Palacios was travelling received 42 bullet holes in the attack.[3] A woman in his car was treated for injuries at a local hospital, while a cameraman escaped the attack unharmed. Palacios was 36 years old when he died.[3]
Palacios was one of five journalists to be killed in Honduras in March 2010.[4]
Palacios's killing triggered protests by dozens of journalists on March 15, 2010, in the city of San Pedro Sula.[3] The journalists demanded an end to violence against colleagues in the country.[3]