2 agrarian activists murdered in Honduras

MEXICO CITY – International condemnation is pouring in following the murder of two agrarian activists in Honduras.

Jose Angel Flores, leader of the United Farmworkers Movement of Aguan, or MUCA by its Spanish initials, and member Silmer Dionisio George, were shot Tuesday.

In recent years, MUCA had seized thousands of acres of land, much of it privately held African palm oil plantations that previously had been cooperatives cultivated by the same farmworkers.

U.S. Ambassador to Honduras James Nealon condemned the killings Tuesday through his Twitter account. The U. N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras in a statement Wednesday called on the state to protect activists.

The killings follow the murder in March of environmental activist Berta Caceres who had been awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work.