Marcelo Chimirri, a nephew of the deposed president of

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya is a Hondurans, Honduran politician who served as the 35th president of Honduras from 2006 until his forcible removal in the 2009 Honduran coup d'état, 2 ...

, is a former General Manager of the state-owned telecom company

Hondutel Hondutel (Empresa Hondureña de Telecomunicaciones), is the Honduras government's telecommunications company. It has a monopoly on international calls. History Creation The organization was created on May 7, 1976, as an autonomous organizat ...

. Chimirri was appointed as the head of the state-owned telecom company

after his uncle became president in 2006. According to

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

, on May 8, 2006, Chimirri attacked reporter Octavio Carvajal, an action Carvajal attributed to embarrassing questions and criticism he had made about Chimirri. Chimirri reportedly grabbed Carvajal by the throat and said "I am not intimidating you because I am not someone who makes threats - I act and I execute... the president’s office is irritated by all the questions you have been asking." Financial irregularities with Hondutel were later reported in the Honduran media. Marcelo Chimirri sued the journalists. In January 2008, the United States denied Chimirri a visa, citing evidence of corruption. In April 2009, Latin Node Inc., an American company, pleaded guilty in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

to making improper payments to Hondutel, "knowing that some, or all of those funds, would be passed on as bribes to officials of Hondutel". Three months later, Chimirri was arrested by the Dirección General de Investigación Criminal (DGNI) after being indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and abuse of authority, charges which he denies. Chimirri remains in prison. In addition to Chimirri, Oscar Danilo Santos (the former manager of Hondutel), Jorge Rosa, and James Lagos were all charged in connection with allegedly committing crimes of abuse of authority, fraud and bribery having received bribes of $1.09 million U.S. from a Latin Node in exchange for Hondutel providing that carrier lower rates than other firms. Auditor Julio Daniel Flores was charged for the lesser crime of violation of duties of officers.

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See also