Urgent Alert: Another Environmentalist Killed in Guatemala
It’s hard enough to work long hours, get paid very little and have minimal support as a national park ranger in Guatemala. It may also cost you your life.
This is the Cerro San Gil park located on Lake Izabal in Guatemala. Samuel Rodríguez Reyes, a park ranger, was killed in his office on January 2nd.
On January 2nd Samuel Rodríguez Reyes, a ranger at the Cerro San Gil National Park, was assassinated in Santo Tomás de Castilla which is located on Lake Izabal. He worked for La Fundación para Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación (Fundaeco) which is demanding an immediate investigation into Mr. Rodriguez’s assassination. Killed in his office, Fundaeco suspects foul play because Mr. Rodriguez has made repeated formal complaints against illegal hunting and logging in the Cerro San Gil park.
His case is not isolated: the Center for Environmental Legal & Social Action, a local Guatemalan organization says that in the past three years there have been 133 attacks against environmentalists, including 13 deaths.
I’ll keep you posted as more information is released.
