In early March, we got word of the tragic murder of Berta Cáceres, an environmental and indigenous rights activist from Honduras. Just twelve days later, her colleague Nelson García was also murdered.
We here at FCNL join in mourning with the families of Berta, Nelson, and hundreds of activists that have been killed in Honduras whilst working towards justice.
Berta Cáceres co-founded of the National Council of the Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) and dedicated her life to lifting up indigenous peoples, women, and poor peoples’ rights. This loss hangs heavy in the hearts of all who knew Berta personally and those who knew of her work, her activism, and her spirit. She worked towards the same equity and justice for all that we at FCNL seek every day.
At the center of her activism was the Gualcarque River, which is of spiritual significance to the indigenous Lenca people and integral to their community livelihood. It is also the site for the proposed Agua Zarca dam, the construction of which would cut off access to water, food and medicine for the Lenca and other communities downstream. Berta, a Lenca woman, gained international recognition for organizing Lenca community resistance to the project. The Lenca had failed to be consulted about the project nor had they given consent, as required by international law. Just last year, Berta Cáceres was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her leadership in temporarily suspending the project.
In Honduras, action of this sort comes with consequence. Directly advocating against state-sponsored programs makes activists a target of threats and harassment from Honduran security forces and the military. Both Berta Cáceres and Nelson García were shot multiple times by unidentified gunmen, after years of increased threats from the state. Their deaths are not exceptions, but part of a long-standing pattern – hundreds of activists in Honduras working for human rights, indigenous self-determination, socioeconomic equality, environmental action, LGBTQ rights, or the advancement of women have been killed in the last few years. Honduras is the deadliest country for environmental activists in the world, with a report from last April averaging that two environmental activists are killed per week.
U.S. aid requires the Honduran government deter migration, but fails to demand accountability to human rights protections or proper investigation into these countless deaths.
Central Americans seeking refuge at the United States southern border are there in part because of the ongoing displacement of indigenous and other vulnerable communities in the Northern Triangle of Central America – the very displacement and environmental upset that the Lenca are resisting. But instead of supporting these activists and standing against human rights violations, the U.S. government continues to fund the Honduran military and security forces. U.S. aid to Honduras increases militarization of police forces and expansion of the military, and requires the Honduran government deter migration, but fails to demand accountability to human rights protections or proper investigation into these countless deaths.
Even now as I write this post, I am struggling to respond to these deaths productively through my grief and anger, but we do have an opportunity to act – and we must seize it.
FCNL joined over 250 organizations in writing to Secretary of State John Kerry asking that the United States respond to the murder with a radical shift in foreign policy to the region; one that would ensure human rights conditions are strengthened, activist deaths independently investigated, and all U.S. security assistance to Honduras suspended. Further demands include extending full range of Inter-American Commission on Human Rights precautions to her family, members of COPINH, and Gustavo Castro - the only witness to the murder who is still in state custody. Finally, it calls for a complete halt of the Agua Zarca Dam project and two international corporations backing the project have already suspended funding. Members of Congress signed a similar letter last week with the same demands.
The tides are shifting; it is a moment to act. You can echo these calls, too. The best way I know how to honor Berta Cáceres’ life is by carrying her life’s work to fruition; to build bridges between people, strive for coexistence, cherish our earth, lift up the rights, dignities and protection of all peoples, choose care over violence, and take action.
This morning, Laura Cáceres – daughter of Berta – addressed congressional staffers at a briefing and said it best:
“Berta Cáceres, mi Mami, no esta muerta. Esta multiplicada.”
Berta Cáceres did not die, her efforts have only multiplied.
“They can attack her; they can even kill her – as they have tried. But [Berta’s] life transcends this moment in time. This struggle is a symbol of community resistance that inspires people across Honduras and around the world.”
– Journalist Melissa Cardoza, Mother of All Rivers, 2015
video clip below.