Juticalpa: Terrorist Attacks against Resistance

Juticalpa, 29 nov. The 115th Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Honduras in Juticalpa, fired off multiple bursts of gunfire within that battalion, terrorising the residents of this city, located in eastern Honduras.

Neighbors in the area reported that the incident occurred Friday between six and seven in the evening and that the loud noise alarmed the inhabitants, as the de facto regime is promoting a general disarmament.

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According to Rafael Sarmiento, who is coordinator of the National Resistance Front against the coup in Juticalpa, this event is a threat to those who oppose the dictatorial regime of Robert Micheletti and Romeo Vasquez Velasquez.

"The message is clear, and those who do not recognize the election risk losing their life," Sarmiento said in an interview he gave to representatives of the "3F" union movement from Denmark and lawyers of the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared in Honduras (Cofadeh).

The attacks and threats against the personal integrity of members of the Resistance in this region have been relentless, said Sarmiento, who claimed that his father had recently been the victim of a life-threatening attack.

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The event occurred on 18 November, when Ulysses Gregorio Sarmiento was in the Medardo Mejia neighbourhood when persons unknown launched and detonated an HK grenade.

According to his wife, Dayse Valdez, she heard a loud explosion that collapsed part of the structure of her home.

"My son of only four years old was where the attack happened, but a relative of the child miraculously rescued him, but the child has a severe head injury" reported Valdez, who says that investigations of the event by the competent authorities have stalled.

This terrorist attack on the Sarmiento family is part of the atmosphere of fear that the residents of Juticalpa opposing the de facto regime live in.

Ulysses Sarmiento is also a Resistance Front leader of that city and after the assassination attempt, is taking extreme precautions, as a state of defenselessness still prevails in Honduras.

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The propaganda atmosphere of Juticalpa City has the backing of the military, and accompanying political activists from the traditional parties to conduct their campaigns in different areas of the city.

"There is clear and active persecution of members of the resistance, and especially of colleagues who were at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa. Vehicles and state motorcycles and unidentified vehicles are chasing them, affirmed Rafael Sarmiento, and they require protective measures from human rights organizations in Honduras.

ENDS

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