Padre Tamayo is one of the leaders of the Environmental Movement of Olancho (MAO) in Honduras. MAO wants to prevent the illegal stripping of the forests which results in the drying up of the rivers and the impoverishment of the land. Because they challenge powerful economic interests the members of MAO are regularly targeted. In 2007 Heraldo Zuñiga and Roger Ivan Cartagena were assassinated. Rene Gradis Coordinator of Mao has survived two attempts on his life while Padre Tamayo who is Advisor to the group has a contract of $40,000 on his head.

Further Information

Since 2001 there have been three attempts on Padre Tamayo’s life. In one attack the soldiers put a grenade in his mouth which he managed to take out and throw away just before it exploded. In August 2008 he was out walking when a group of armed men attempted to abduct him. His bodyguards fired into the air and the assailants ran off.

Padre Tamayao and MAO are not opposed to economic exploitation of the forests – they just want it done in a sustainable way to protect the rights of the community.