A man holds up a photo of slain environmental rights activist Berta Caceres over her coffin after th …
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A Lenca Indian who had won the prestigious Goldman Enviromental Prize in 2015, Caceres was shot repeatedly after at least two assailants broke into her home.
“Honduras has lost a fearless and committed social activist”, fellow activist Tomas Membreno said in a statement.
Within the last week Caceres had warned that four of her colleagues had been killed and others threatened.
Caceres co-founded the Civic Council of Indigenous and People’s Organizations (Copinh) in 1993 with her then-husband Salvador Zuniga, gaining fame for her fearless fight against environmental destruction by hydroelectric and mining companies.
Berta Caceres, who won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, has been shot dead at her home in the town of La Esperanza. She continued her activism as an indigenous leader and was a fierce critic of the right-wing government of President Juan Orlando Hernández. Police say they have arrested a suspect but did not release a name.
A security guard assigned to her home has been taken into custody, Pacheco added, speaking at a news conference in the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Plagued by drug violence, gang warfare and extreme economic inequality, Honduras is also one of the world’s most risky countries for journalists, LGBT activists and practically anyone who challenges powerful interests.
Police told Italian newspaper La Repubblica she had been killed during a botched robbery but her family have said they believe she was assassinated for her high-profile campaigns against dams, illegal loggers and land owners.
The U.S. ambassador in Honduras, James D. Nealon, issued a statement saying: “We strongly condemn this despicable crime”. It should be investigated and those responsible should be brought to justice.
“It is highly probable that her assassination is linked with her work in protecting the human rights of the Lenca indigenous peoples to their lands and territories”, Ms Tauli Corpuz said. “For years, she had been the victim of a sustained campaign of harassment and threats to stop her from defending the rights of indigenous communities”, said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
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Outside the morgue, dozens of indigenous people used flowers and sawdust to create a representation of the river that Caceres had defended. “We are the ancestral custodians of the rivers”, she said.
