Radio station correspondent gunned down in provincial city

Reporters Without Borders is stunned to learn of the murder of reporter Rafael Munguía on 31 March in the northwestern city of San Pedro Sula, where he was the correspondent of the national, privately-owned radio station Radio Cadena Voces (RCV). Gunmen aboard a vehicle stopped him as he was driving home and shot him eight times. “We hope the authorities will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the motives for Munguía's murder and identify those responsible,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We offer our condolences to his family and his colleagues at Radio Cadena Voces.” One of his fellow journalists said Munguía could have been killed in the course of a robbery attempt. But the murder came just after he sent RCV a report on violent crime in San Pedro Sula, the country's second largest city. Munguía was not the first RCV journalist to be murdered. RCV commentator and humorist Carlos Salgado was gunned down as he was leaving the radio station in the capital, Tegucigalpa, on 18 October 2007. The station's manager, Dagoberto Rodríguez, left the country two weeks later after the police told him a contract had been put out for his murder. RCV has often criticised President Manuel Zelaya's administration.