Honduran Environmentalist Killed
March 4, 2016
Yesterday, March 3, noted Honduran human rights and environmental activist Berta Cáceres was shot and killed in her own home. For years, Cáceres had been trying to prevent construction of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River. Her efforts earned her the prestigious Goldman Environment Award in 2014. But they led to death threats and likely to her eventual murder. Cáceres was 44 years old.
A member of the indigenous Honduran Lenca people, Cáceres co-founded the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras in 1993. For the past several years, the group was leading protests and a legal battle against construction of the Agua Zarca Dam. The hydroelectric project will cut off much of the Lenca’s water supply from the Gualcarque River. Further, the river is sacred to the Lenca people. Protests at the dam site, which occasionally led to violence, convinced Sinohydro, the Chinese company originally behind the dam project, to pull out of Honduras. A Honduran company took over the project and continued construction. Tensions rose and security forces repeatedly arrested environmental protesters. Cáceres began receiving death threats in February. Early yesterday morning, gunmen burst into her house in La Esperanza and shot her to death. Honduran officials said they have no immediate suspects, but family members were quick to blame the government and the dam company.
March 16, 2016 Update: On March 14, 2015, a colleague of Cáceres, Nelson García, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen.
Honduras is a small Central American country known for the production of bananas. A poor and politically unstable country, Honduras is also a very violent place with a poor human rights record.
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