Second Mexico monarch butterfly activist found dead

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

A second activist campaigning for the conservation of monarch butterflies and the woods in which they hibernate has been found dead in Mexico.

Raúl Hernández worked as a tour guide at a butterfly sanctuary in Michoacán state.

His body, which bore signs of beatings and a head injury, was found two days after the funeral of Homero Gómez.
...
Raúl Hernández, 44, disappeared on Monday 27 January. He had left work as usual and was last seen at midday in a village called El Oyamel.

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-51356265

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Multiple murders over conservation. What a shit world this is.

[Omaha Steve]

1. Here is the earlier suspicious death story

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142426841

[JudyM]

2. Thanks for adding this, Steve. Truly chilling.

[usaf-vet]

3. Someone wants the land or what under the land?

That the only thing in my mind that makes sense.

[cstanleytech]

4. My money would be on the ones who are involved in illegal logging.

[Jedi Guy]

5. Nah, it's not a shit world we live in.

It's unfortunately just infested with plenty of shitty people.

[rockfordfile]

6. Hopefully they catch the pos

[bitterross]

7. This will spread to the US. We have a history of murdering activists

Don't be surprised when this headline lists a US state and not a Mexican one. The corporations in the US don't play any less dirty than the one in Mexico. Actually, they're probably the same ones.

Large corporations and robber-barons have had no problems in the past killing union organizers and other activists. We're in the New Gilded Age. This will happen here.

[Bayard]

9. tRump built his wall

Right through the butterfly sanctuary on the U.S. side.

This is an older article, I believe they're already building across it now.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/02/border-wall-set-to-cut-through-butterfly-center/

[scarletwoman]

10. Horrible. Sorry, I have no other words.

[Karadeniz]

11. Poor Mexico...they're overwhelmed by murders.

[renate]

12. OMG--heartbreaking

How awful that someone dedicated to butterflies would be horrifically murdered like this. I can't stand the world sometimes.

[Blue_Tires]

13. Who would be pissed off over butterflies??

[Judi Lynn]

14. People who murder environmentalists in the Americas want the land under them for other uses.

They intend to seize the land and remove the trees and plant crops for profit, or start mining, etc. It's the land they want for themselves.

Environmentalists have been assassinated in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina and Chile, relentlessly. Far beyond tragic.

[Blue_Tires]

17. Brasil, too

[Judi Lynn]

15. Google translation from a local publication: "Find out Mexico murder of another butterfly guard"

Mexico, Feb 2 (Prensa Latina) The Mexican government investigates the murder of Raúl Hernández , protector and tour guide in sanctuaries of the Monarch butterfly , in eastern Michoacán, found dead on Saturday at El Campanario.

Hernández Romero, 44, was reported missing on January 27; and last seen at the El Hongo estate, near the community of El Oyamel, belonging to the municipality of Áporo.

Until the afternoon of this Saturday the reason for the death of the tourist guide is unknown.

On Friday, Homero Gómez was buried, who was an activist and administrator of the El Campanario sanctuary. On January 13, he disappeared and on January 30 he was found dead in the town of El Soldado, located a few kilometers from the municipal capital of Ocampo.

According to the Attorney General of the state of Michoacán , the lifeless body of Raúl Hernández was found in the early hours of this February 1 in the municipality of Ocampo with several blunt blows in different parts, as well as a head wound made With a sharp object.

The body was taken to a forensic medical center in order to perform the autopsy in the framework of the investigation.

https://lagazzettadf.com/noticia/2020/02/02/averigua-mexico-asesinato-de-otro-protector-de-mariposas/

~ ~ ~

Common Dreams:



Raúl Hernández Romero, a tour guide who worked at El Rosario butterfly preserve in Michoacan state, Mexico, was found dead on Saturday. He was the second conservation advocate connected with the sanctuary found dead in the past week. (Photo: Sylvain Cordier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Published on
Monday, February 03, 2020
by Common Dreams

'Horrific': Human Rights Advocates Call for Investigation Into Death of Second Monarch Butterfly Defender in Mexico
Raúl Hernández Romero's family says he received threats regarding his work campaigning against illegal logging in the weeks before he disappeared.

Human rights defenders on Monday demanded a full investigation into the death of a second conservation activist in Michoacan state, Mexico, after the body of a tour guide in one of the country's largest butterfly preserves was found several days after the man went missing.

The body of Raúl Hernández Romero was found at the top of a hill in the El Rosario butterfly sanctuary on Saturday, one day after the manager of the preserve, Homero Gómez González, was buried. Gómez's body was found last Wednesday after a two-week disappearance.

"Like Homero Gómez, Raúl dedicated his life to the protection of the monarch butterfly in Michoacan," tweeted Amnesty International Mexico in Spanish on Monday. "We demand the immediate intervention of the authorities!"

. . .

El Rosario sanctuary provides a home for millions of migrating monarch butterflies each year and draws thousands of tourists annually. But the reserve has also drawn the ire of illegal loggers in Mexico, who are banned from cutting down trees in the protected area.

. . .

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/03/horrific-human-rights-advocates-call-investigation-death-second-monarch-butterfly?cd-origin=rss

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~ ~ ~

A second monarch butterfly conservationist has been found dead in Mexico
By Alaa Elassar and Natalie Gallón, CNN
Updated 2 hrs ago | Posted on Feb 3, 2020



Monarch butterflies fly in the Oyamel forest at El Rosario sanctuary in Angangueo, Michoacan state, Mexico.

Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

. . .



Body of Mexican butterfly conservationist and activist found
The body of a missing Mexican butterfly conservationist and activist has been found, authorities confirmed.

. . .

Mexico's State Commission for Human Rights said it believes Gomez, known as the "Defender of the Monarch Butterfly," might have come into conflict with illegal loggers while carrying out his conservation work.

Michoacán state is home to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in a forested area, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) outside of Mexico City and witnesses millions of monarch butterflies during their annual migration.

CNN en Español's Fidel Gutierrez contributed to this report.

https://www.wsmv.com/news/us_world_news/a-second-monarch-butterfly-conservationist-has-been-found-dead-in/article_6f2ca986-7e9a-5f9d-a404-afb611321b96.html

Rest in Peace, Raúl Hernández.

[Raine]

16. This is so sad

just heartbreaking Heroes R-I-P Go'mez 🦋 & Herna'ndez 🦋

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

18. I don't even know what to say at this point..... nt