“In our view of the world, we are beings who have risen from the earth, from water and from corn. We are the ancestral guardians of the rivers. The Lenca people are guarded themselves by the spirits of girls who teach us that, to give life in the many ways that defend the rivers, is to give life for the good of humanity and this planet.”
– Berta Cáceres, 2015, in her speech upon receiving the Goldman Prize
On behalf of the National Network of Human Rights Defenders in Honduras and the Feminist Movement in Honduras, it is with great sadness and indignation that we condemn the murder of Berta Cáceres Flores, the defender and leader of the Civic Alliance of Populist Organizations and Indigenous People in Honduras (COPINH in Spanish).
We empathize with the pain of her mother, Austra Berta Flores, of her daughters Laura, Marcela and Berta, of her son Salvador and her grandson Camilo. With her allies and supporters, she undertook a struggle of dignity and enormous courage in facing landholders, businesspeople, the army and the police—and all of the men paid to hold back COPINH’s efforts to achieve justice for all.
Since 2011 we have supported Berta, her family and COPINH because of multiple threats including charges, harassment, slander campaigns and death threats. Today, such a threat was carried out.
Berta Cáceres received precautionary measures authorized by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and was recognized internationally with one of the most prestigious prizes for environmental defenders, the Goldman Prize, in 2015.
It was in fact today, through our membership in the Mesoamerican Defenders Initiative, that we aimed to publish a statement on denouncements made by the hydroelectric company Agua Zarca against COPINH. In these denouncements, they held Berta Cáceres responsible for “acts of vandalism.”
In this statement, we urge the Government of Honduras to end the impunity with which armed paramilitaries operate, funded by the company DESA-Agua Zarca. Today, we find this company responsible for Berta´s death as well as the State—who permits these illegal groups to operate with impunity.
Berta Cáceres was murdered in her home and while she rested. This illustrates the great risk to defenders, to Indigenous people protesting in their communities, and to those participating in social and popular movements who have made this worthy fight our own.
Today and more than ever, Berta Cáceres is present in our struggles—so that never again will the unconscionable interests of transnational companies trump the rights of the Indigenous people who defend their territories.
With the strength of Iselaca, Mota, Etempica and Berta we continue the fight.