Just after nightfall on Monday, heartbreaking news emerged about the death of Garifuna musical and cultural icon, Aurelio Martinez, in a plane crash. The small Lanhsa Airlines plane had just taken off from Roatan Islands, heading to La Ceiba on the Honduran mainland, when it reportedly made a sharp right turn and plunged into the Caribbean Sea. The aircraft, along with its seventeen passengers, sank one hundred and sixty feet into the sea, but divers quickly located most of the passengers by 9 p.m. Tragically, among the deceased was the beloved Aurelio Martinez, a Honduran Garifuna musical ambassador who also called Belize home. The news of his passing struck Belizeans like a thunderstorm, prompting an outpouring of sorrow and regret on Facebook. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
These poignant images of Honduran police and rescuers carrying victims from a small plane crash on Monday night brought heartbreaking news to the Garifuna communities in both Honduras and Belize. Among the deceased was Aurelio Martinez, a cultural icon who had long called Belize his second home. He had been in Roatan promoting an upcoming fiesta and had just posted a promotional video on Facebook before the tragic accident. The devastating news hit hard. Newani Martinez, who was on the basketball court at the time, recounted the moment he received the call from the U.S. Embassy. Both he and Aurelio are U.S. citizens, and the loss was deeply felt.
Newani Martinez, Son of Deceased
“I received a call from the U.S Embassy and they told me your father has passed, sorry to bring the news and things of that nature, but I was first to hear the confirmation from the U.S. Embassy and this was at the basketball court at the time.”
Aurelio’s manager and girlfriend, Arlette Gomez, struggled to keep her composure as she talked about the exciting project they had planned—a video recording with Tanya Stevens in Belize.
Arlette Gomez, Manager, Aurelio Martinez
“He was coming in May to shoot a video with Tanya Stevens. That was in the pipeline for him and Tanya to shoot a video in Placencia. That’s what we were working on. It’s a song written by both Aurelio and Tanya and that would have been filmed in May.”
With Aurelio’s passing still so recent, and everything in the early stages, Gomez and Stevens are uncertain about whether they will move forward with the project.
“I spoke with Tanya this morning and yes, she says the same thing that you said – it’s preliminary. We’re all still trying to process this loss, but we’re not closing any doors. This was a really, really big project that Aurelio was holding very dear to him. It was all about cultural inclusion and cultural fusion, and so, I’m sure that if we are going to see it through.”
Yasser Musa was right there in the early days when Aurelio was deepening his musical connection to Belizean roots. Together with the late Andy Palacio and Paul Nabor, they breathed new life into the fading Paranda rhythm. Aurelio’s passing really hit home, highlighting the painful reality of losing someone close.
Yasser Musa, Friend of Deceased
“I first started to think about his children. I first started to think about his mom and dad. I know his dad is a Parandero himself. His mom is a great singer, a Garifuna singer, so I started to think about his family, his immediate family ‘cause you know, when you hear someone pass so suddenly like that, you think of your own self and your own family, your own mortality, and what would happen if someone like that passes in your family.”
Condolences flooded Facebook from everyone who knew and loved Aurelio. His manager shared that his magnetic personality even influenced her grandchild’s musical journey.
“One that stands out is my little granddaughter, Aria. Aurelio gave her her first guitar when she was five years old. I remember telling him wasting money buying this guitar for this baby and he was like, no, she asked me, she could barely say guitar. He’s asking, she’s asking me for this guitar. I’m going to, we’re going to take this guitar for her and we came home and he gave her the guitar and she was the happiest little girl on the face of the earth because her abuela gave her what she wanted.”
Marion Ali
She called him “Abuelo?”
“Yes, she called him “Abuelo” and, she now plays the guitar. She’s taking guitar lessons. And my daughter said that every strum of that guitar will have a whole new meaning for her now.”
For Gomez and her family, Aurelio was also the life of the gatherings.
“We were laughing this morning, my sister in Florida ’cause we were visiting her and we have some pictures and videos of him in her mango tree picking mango, you know, that was just Aurelio and who he was. He was able to fit in, in any situation because of his personality and that that jovial personality that he had.”
Just like Gomez’s granddaughter who picked up the guitar thanks to Aurelio, Newani says his dad’s music will always be a part of him. Even as he embarks on his career with the U.S. Coast Guard later this year, that musical legacy will live on.
“I want to do Coast Guard, so I’m going to go to the U.S. very soon. Actually, I was planning to go in July to go and start to get my career started over there. So that was already in planning and me and my dad were planning to discuss that because we just talked the other day about me going to Honduras to spend my birthday with him and I will keep his music, his legacy alive. So it is something that I will venture into and to broaden out and, you know, not only be just music, but outside of music – everything having to do with culture, having to do with the people, things like that. That’s what I want to do and always make sure that my dad’s name is always present and he’s always known.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
