Honduras: Investigation into the disappearance of trans activist Cristina Portillo is demanded.
The woman was detained by what appeared to be a police patrol. She has been missing since November 24. Family, activists, and friends are demanding her safe return.
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San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Five men dressed in uniforms of the Anti-Gang Police Directorate arrived at the Flamingo bar in the Rivera Hernández district at 10:30 p.m. on November 24. There they arrested trans activist Cristina Portillo and took her away. It was the last time she was seen alive.
More than 10 days have passed since alleged members of the Directorate Against Gangs and Organized Crime (Dipampco) took the 38-year-old leader along with a young man named Joshua, in the Brisas del Sauce neighborhood, in eastern San Pedro Sula.
Nobody knows where Cristina is. Her family, friends, and leaders are crying out, “They took her alive, we want her back alive.”
What happened to Cristina?
On the night of the kidnapping, Cristina's sisters did not resist. They allowed the men to search the place. The uniformed men photographed Joshua, who was a customer at the bar, handcuffed him, and took him away along with Cristina for "investigative purposes." They also took Josiris's cell phone and identification card.
Later, Josiris, a lawyer, went to the Dipampco offices to support her sister, but found that no arrests had been made in that area. The trans activist's whereabouts have been unknown ever since.
Josiris began searching all the National Police detention centers in San Pedro Sula, but no one gave him any answers. More than 24 hours had passed and there was still no news of Cristina.
On Tuesday, November 28, Osman Lara, president of the LGBTIQ+ Committee of the Sula Valley, published a video together with Reportar Sin Miedo where he talks about the case and asks the authorities to immediately search for Cristina.
Lara obtained permission from Cristina's family, since very few people came forward after her disappearance.
With the help of a few
Josiris told Reportar Sin Miedo that he called several of his sister's friends, who said they couldn't help because they were out of the country. "Very few have been there for her during this time," he complained.
Cristina, who is president of the Brisas del Sauce board, is also an activist with the National Party. She worked in the last elections to help Armando Calidonio win the mayoral race against the incumbent, Roberto Contreras.
Josiris confirmed that Cristina had had conflicts with people very close to political power in Rivera Hernández, and that they had threatened her to make her leave her community work.
On May 17, 2013, Cristiana Portillo marched through the streets of San Pedro Sula, along with more than 100 other LGBTQ+ individuals, to condemn Mayor Contreras's hateful and racist actions against LGBTQ+ people. She also condemned the actions of San Pedro Sula residents who drove their cars at the protesters.
We're missing Cristina
Shortly after Cristina's disappearance, the government of Xiomara Castro held an International Forum on Sexual Diversity in Honduras in order to address how the State should guarantee the rights of sexual dissidents.
Although the forum received support from the Ministry of Social Development (Sedesol) , the Solidarity Action Program (Proasol) and the German Society for International Cooperation, for LGBTIQ+ activist Dylan Duarte, holding the event was ironic.
“Safe spaces for the LGBTIQ+ population when our comrade Cristina Portillo is missing. When we report persecution and threats and they don't even respond. When we ask for guarantees of our human rights and they are violated. What safe spaces are they talking about?” Duarte wrote on social media.
At the forum, national and international guests discussed problems and creating bridges of knowledge and cooperation.
Violence continues to uproot many dissident lives
To date, according to the Violent Deaths Observatory of the Cattrachas Lesbian Network , at least 47 LGBTIQ+ people have been murdered so far in 2023.
Of that number, 18 are trans people. There is also a missing trans woman, Cristina Portillo.
One of the organizers of the forum, the official Naama Ávila, referred to a video about the demonstration for women's rights within the framework of November 25.
“And above all, CONSISTENCY. Because today, as I said in a sexual diversity forum, there is still an outstanding debt (which is even growing) regarding the cases that remain unpunished, and the increase in femicides. An approach is URGENT. It would be prudent to declare a STATE OF EMERGENCY,” Ávila posted.
Trans leader and human rights defender Sofía Carbajal, from Colectivo Unidad Color Rosa, confirmed to the media that they had made inquiries to the National Police about Cristina's case without receiving a response.
“What if this kidnapping was carried out by a criminal group? We need to know, and we hope the Honduran government can provide an immediate response,” he said.
While the media was learning about the case, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Alice H. Shackelford, made a statement.
“Very concerned and following up on the disappearance of trans leader Cristina Portillo. According to data from Cattrachas, 46 people from the LGBTIQ+ community have been murdered during 2023,” the UN official posted.
Like Shackelford, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called for Portillo's return.
“The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) condemns the disappearance of Cristina Portillo, a trans human rights defender and defender of LGBTIQ+ rights, which occurred on November 24 in San Pedro Sula. The Office urges the authorities to conduct a prompt investigation and take the necessary steps to locate her.”
Activists are calling for Cristina
Similarly, leaders of sexual dissident groups have spoken out about the case of Cristina Portillo.
Among them, Rihanna Ferrera told Reportar sin Miedo : “We are the trans women who are suffering violence from this government for demanding legal recognition of gender identity, for demanding processes that comply with the laws of the country.”
The activist added that she is afraid because she is without protection from the Honduran authorities.
“I’m afraid. I haven’t received any protection measures from the Protection Mechanism for a year. They’re killing trans women who have been released from prison, they’re kidnapping women who own businesses, and when is this going to happen to me? If the Mechanism hasn’t responded at all to my case, this government doesn’t care about the safety and, above all, the lives of diverse people,” Ferrera stated.
For her part, Indyra Mendoza, from Cattrachas, indicated that there are three lines of investigation in the case of Cristina Portillo that the National Police should be investigating.
“Several LGBTI+ leaders and members of the National Party have already been murdered,” Mendoza noted. “We have studied the patterns and analyzed the cases. Just remember what happened to René Martínez.”
Mendoza referred in that way to “Reni” Martínez, president of the Sampedrana Gay Community, leader in the Chamelecón district and alternate deputy candidate for Welsy Vásquez, who was murdered in June 2016.
Meanwhile, LGBTIQ+ activist Javier Carrington, a friend of Cristina, expressed on his social media that he hopes the authorities will investigate the case of the missing leader.
“I hope Cristina Portillo is found, and I ask for a full investigation. If any agency is going to provide protection, it should be for her family. I should also mention that she was an active volunteer with the Iguales Association.”
Surveillance and threats
“I fear for my life. There are zero results. It’s traumatic. I’ve already received threats telling me not to look for my sister,” said Josiris Portillo.
Cristina's sister is adamant that, from the very first day of Cristina's disappearance, the National Police and the DPI have failed to investigate. “They haven't given me any answers. They haven't even conducted any search operations. The truck in which Cristina was taken has entered the area several times. There are witnesses, and their statements haven't been taken either. I feel powerless knowing that they aren't doing anything for my sister .
Josiris lost his fear. On the morning of Monday, December 4th, he and a group of community leaders stood in front of the integrated center at the first police station, which houses offices of the National Police, the Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Judiciary. “I want them to return her to me and conduct the necessary investigations. I have faith that my sister is still alive, since her body hasn't been found. I've begged them to investigate. They're the only ones who can.”
While family members and activists pleaded in front of the media for Cristina's return, two police officers in a vehicle without license plates took photographs and videos of the people attending the protest.
One of the protesters recognized two officers at the scene on Monday, the 4th, who in August 2022 were present when a group of police officers locked a trans woman in a cell for refusing to pay extortion money, according to reports from human rights advocates. “We are afraid they want to make us disappear,” the person who reported the incident said.
Photo: complainants.
Another of the officers who, according to complainants, were at the scene in August 2022.
Photo: Complainants.
Osman Lara, president of the Sula Valley LGBTQ+ Committee, revealed that Cristina had already received hate threats "for being a trans woman." He reported that they waited several days for the police to take the report as a kidnapping.
“The report was filed an hour later, but they wanted to classify it as armed robbery when it was actually a kidnapping. We demand that our colleague be returned to us alive,” she said.
For his part, Ronald Posada, police spokesman in San Pedro Sula, informed the media that they have been working on the case since the complaint was filed, but that it is now up to the Public Prosecutor's Office to assign an investigator to resume and expedite the proceedings to find Cristina's whereabouts.
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