MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

More prosecutors killed in Latin America

Three leading prosecutors have been murdered in Latin America in May. Almendares was 39.

Following the assassination of Paraguay's Marcelo Pecci while honeymooning in Colombia, two other crimes have hit Latin American prosecutors in the last days of May.

Honduran State Attorney's Office has declared three days of mourning following Friday's assassination of Special Environmental Prosecutor Karen Gabriela Almendarez Herrera from the city of Nacaome in the El Salvador-bordering department of Valle.

The head of the Specialized Prosecutor Unit Against Corruption Networks, Luis Javier Santos, published that: “Prosecutor ”Ranger“ that is how they have called those of who have been assigned to a local Prosecutor's Office.” He added that “Almendarez, was a 'Ranger' Prosecutor, a true heroine, a dreamer, an idealist.”

Almendarez, aged 39, was murdered Friday in Nacaome's El Chagüite neighborhood. She was shot while she was opening the gate to her home when returning from the gymnasium at night. According to uncorroborated sources, she was the sister of a high-ranking officer of the Honduran Armed Forces.

Deputy Jari Dixon of the ruling Libertad y Refundación party and former prosecutor condemned Almendares' murder on social media: “They murdered prosecutor Karen Almendares in Nacaóme, my deepest condolences to her family, Karen was my assistant when I was a prosecutor, how terrible,” Dixon said.

According to recent reports, criminal violence is leaving between 10 and 13 people dead in Honduras every day.

Almendares' murder is the third crime of this type in Latin America in less than a month. On May 10, Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci was murdered in Colombia, while on May 25 Luz Marina Delgado was killed in Ecuador.

The Manta prosecutor and her assistant and fellow lawyer Jeferson Mendoza were shot dead presumably for their work leading to the arrest of Julia J. M. G., the constant companion of alias Gerald (Washington Prado), also known as the Ecuadorian Pablo Escobar, who was charged in Colombia and extradited to the United States. Three women have been arrested in connection with Delgado's crime.