Indigenous Activist Berta Cáceres Is Assassinated in Honduras

Last month, Berta Caceres was shot and killed in her hometown of La Esperanza, Intibuca in Honduras. She was one of the leading indigenous activists in her country and had spent her life fighting in defense of indigenous rights, especially for land and natural resources.

Ms. Caceres grew up during the period of violence throughout Central America in the 1980’s. Her mother, a midwife and social activist, cared for refugees from El Salvador and taught her children the value of standing up for disenfranchised people. Ms. Caceres was a student activist and in 1993 cofounded the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) to take on the growing threats posed to several communities by illegal logging, to fight for territorial rights, and to improve the livelihoods of the people living in them. Ms. Caceres was serving as the General Coordinator of COPINH when she was assassinated.

Ms. Caceres and COPINH had been involved in several land struggles in western Honduras. In February, violence and repression towards Ms. Caceres, COPINH and the communities they support escalated. Since the 2009 military coup that was carried out by graduates of the U.S. Army School of the Americas, the people of Honduras have witnessed enormous growth in environmentally destructive megaprojects that displaced indigenous communities. The government approved hundreds of dam projects around the country, privatizing rivers and lands, and uprooting communities. Repression of social movements and targeted assassinations increased.

Honduras, which has the highest murder rate in the world, has been reported to have had over 10,000 human rights violations by state security forces, who for the most part have impunity. Most murders go unpunished. The Associated Press has often exposed Honduran policy and death squads. Yet U.S. military training and aid for the Honduran security forces continues.

Human rights organizations around the world are demanding an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the assassination of Berta Caceres.

Berta Caceres. PRESENTE.

(Information for this article came from the School of the Americas Watch.)

Joyce Rothermel is a member of the SW PA School of the Americas Watch.

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