Journalist is 19th slain in Honduras in 3 years

A journalist and gay rights activist who also was a running for a seat in Honduras' legislature has been found killed, an associate from the left-of-center group he belonged to told AFP on Tuesday. "Erick Alex Martinez Avila, 32, was found dead in the street" about five kilometers (three miles) outside the capital, said Gilberto Rios, who like the slain journalist is a member of the left wing Necios activist group. Police told local media that the reporter had been found strangled and his body left Monday on the side of a road. His death brings to 19 the number of journalists who were supporters of former president Manuel Zelaya, who have been killed since his overthrow in a coup three years ago next month. Martinez served as spokesman for Kuculnan, a gay rights group and was running as a candidate for the Libre Party in first-round legislative elections to be held in November.