Honduran journalist recovering from 2nd assassination attempt refuses to leave hospital

Honduran reporter hides in hospital after attacks

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A Honduran television commentator is refusing to leave a hospital where she is recovering from a second assassination attempt, saying she wants safe passage out of Honduras.

Karol Cabrera, who blames the attacks on opponents of a coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya last year, lost her 16-year-old pregnant daughter in the first attack, when gunmen opened fire on her car. Cabrera was wounded in the second attack earlier this month.

The National Resistance Front Against the Coup — the main organization opposing Zelaya’s overthrow — has denied involvement in either attack.

Cabrera said doctors told her two week ago she could leave the military hospital where she recovering from gunshot wounds, but she refused. She said she wants to seek political asylum abroad and wants the government of President Porfirio Lobo, who was elected in November, to protect her.

A spokesman for Lobo’s government, Bladimir Bacca, said he had no knowledge of Cabrera’s situation and would not comment.

As a commentator for state-run Channel 8, Cabrera backed the interim government that took over between Zelaya’s June 28 ouster and Lobo’s inauguration in January.

Cabrera said she has received death threats on her cell phone.

“Supporters of former President Zelaya have warned me they will kill me if I leave,” she told The Associated Press.

Three journalists have been killed in Honduras over the past two months, but police have not made any arrests or determined a motive.

Since the June coup, several anti-Zelaya news media outlets have been attacked, while radio and TV stations that opposed his ouster have been periodically yanked off the air.