...He had been repeatedly threatened and intimidated in connection with his reporting, in particular, in April 2018, March 2019 and in June 2020, according to C-Libre, a Honduran NGO that defends freedom of expression. In the latest instance, several members of the Comayagua chamber of commerce pressured him to reveal his sources for a report that reflected badly on the chamber.

When reached by RSF, the National Mechanism for the Protection of Journalists said it had not received any specific complaint or request for protection from Almendares.

“The Honduran authorities must lose no time in identifying the perpetrators and instigators of this execution-style murder, and should prioritize the hypothesis that it was linked to the victim’s reporting,” said Emmanuel Colombié, the head of RSF’s Latin America bureau.

“The endless spiral of violence against the Honduran press has to be brought to an end. How many journalists need to be murdered before the authorities react, by reinforcing their mechanism for protecting journalists and by establishing a lasting plan for combatting impunity for these crimes?”...