On 20 December 2006, environmental activists Heraldo Zúñiga and Roger Iván Cartagena, members of the non governmental Environmentalist Movement of Olancho (MAO), were killed in execution style in Guarizama, Olancho department, reportedly by members of the national police. Reports indicate that in the months before the killings, they had also been the targets of threats and acts of intimidation and that no effective protection was provided to guarantee their safety. Amnesty International believes that the killings and the previous threats against them are linked to their campaign illegal logging in the Olancho department.
