Campesino land defenders continue to face great risks in Honduras. Organizations like the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) hold large agricultural corporations and large landholders—like the infamous Dinant Corporation and its owners in the Facusse family—responsible for human rights crimes. They also decry collusion among those powerful economic interests, state security forces, public prosecutors, and judges who write illegal eviction orders.
As coordinator of the Campesino Movement of Ceibita Way (a local affiliate of the CNTC), Olman García Ortiz was dedicated to promoting access to land and land tenure for small farmers. On the afternoon of August 4, hitmen shot him multiple times while he was riding his motorcycle in the village of Ceibita Way, municipality of Esparta, Atlántida Department. His lifeless body fell to the pavement. The CNTC reports that he had requested protection measures, but the government denied that request.