Who was Aurelio Martinez? Honduran musician dies in plane crash that killed at least 12 off the Caribbean coast

A plane crash off the coast of a Caribbean island has resulted in the death of at least 12 people including Honduran musician, Aurelio Martinez. The musician is a prominent name in the Garifuna music scene who also became the first of African descent in his country's history to become a representative of the Honduran National Congress.

Aurelio Martinez was born in the coastal area of Plaplaya on the Honduran Caribbean coast and was considered to be one of the last generations to grow up in the Garifuna tradition. By the age of 14, Martinez became a respected musician with his music featuring the Garifuna rituals, songs, and rhythms.

The plane took off from the Honduran island of Roatan and was headed to the port of La Ceiba on March 17, 2025, before it crashed. According to a report by the New York Post dated March 18, 2025, the vehicle that crashed was a British-made Jetstream 41 which encountered an "apparent mechanical failure" as per the police's statement.

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More details about the late Honduran musician Aurelio Martinez explored

As per the Kennedy Center's report on Aurelio Martinez, the Honduran musician talked about his childhood affiliation with music during a 2006 interview with Afropop Worldwide wherein he mentioned:

“In the village I was born, there is still no electricity. When I was a child, I had very natural toys. My first toy was a guitar I built for myself from wood taken from a fishing rod. So that’s how I played my first chords.”

After moving out from Plaplaya, the singer attended secondary school at La Ceiba wherein he participated in unique musical projects, expanding his scope from the realm of traditional performance.

During that time Martinez played professionally with Latin ensembles and wrote music for pop groups and theatre while improving his skills with private teachers.

Furthermore, Aurelio Martinez founded Lita Ariran, a Garifuna ensemble which became one of the first Garifuna groups to feature on an internationally distributed record. Soon, the Garifuna-inspired pop genre became popular in Central America in the 1990s, making Martinez popular for his version of punta rock. One of the contributors to making Martinez's music global was his Belizean fellow musician, the late Andy Palacio.

While Aurelio Martinez chose the path of politics from 2006 to 2010 and catered to the Honduran National Congress setting aside the practice of making music, he got back to his passion after Andy Palacio's demise in 2008. Music producer Ivan Duran recalled the Honduran musician's transition back into his industry after Andy Palacio's death and mentioned:

“Aurelio was still a congressman, but he left the congress session to go to Belize for the funeral. He hadn’t been playing guitar for months because of his intense political commitments. But after Andy’s passing, he gave a few concerts and he knew he needed to start recording right away.”

After leaving politics, Martinez toured the world and performed music as a tribute to his late friend Palacio. Additionally, he spent time with Afropop legend Youssou N’Dour owing to the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative in Senegal.

As per Real Worlds Records of the late Honduran musician, Martinez commented on how travel and music brought him back to his roots stating:

"All the travel made me realize that my real strength as an artist, our real strength as a culture lies in Garifuna communities, in my home village. The more I have traveled and seen the world, the more need I have felt to come back and to reconnect with my roots."

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Some of the late Aurelio Martinez's popular songs include Yalifu, Sielpa, Tabari Dudu, and Mala Mujer, among many others. There is no information available on any family members surviving the Honduran musician yet.