By Giorgio Trucchi on March 4, 2025
“I will return and there will be millions of us” photo: Rel Uita
March 2nd marked the 9th anniversary of the death of social activist and indigenous leader Berta Cáceres, murdered for fighting against the neoliberal extractivist model and for defending the land and the commons of Honduras.
Likewise, the water and life defender Juan López was also remembered, also murdered in September last year for his fight against the mining expansion of the company Inversiones Los Pinares (EMCO Group) / Inversiones Ecotek in Bajo Aguán.
For both, the hundreds of people and national and international organizations, including the IUF-Rel, who were present at the “Utopia” Friendship and Meeting Center accompanying Berta’s family and Copinh, demanded truth and comprehensive justice, while calling for the punishment of the murderers.
“Today we call on all peoples not to lose Berta’s legacy. She taught us to defend Mother Earth as a living being, denouncing ecocides, extractivism, the criminal companies that generate violence and forced displacements,” said Lolita Chávez, a K’iche’ Mayan leader.
“Her legacy calls us to protect the rivers, the mountains, the forests because in them dwells the memory, the history, the womb and the blood of our martyrs.
She continued: “It calls us to fight against the oligarchies that invade our territories, against the model of false development, to intensify and multiply the struggles”.
Bertha Zúniga Cáceres, daughter of Berta and coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (Copinh), recalled that there is a unique opportunity for those most responsible for the crime to be brought to justice.
“My heart has felt crushed, however, with each act of solidarity my soul has been filled. We feel enormous gratitude to all the people and organizations that have supported the demand for justice for Berta.
Without them,” explained Zúniga, ”our family and Copinh would not have been able to achieve what we have today. This is, without doubt, a shared victory and we have to continue until the last person responsible for the vile murder receives their punishment.
The Berta Case
On December 2, the Criminal Chamber of the Honduran Supreme Court of Justice upheld the sentences¹ handed down to seven of the eight people responsible for the crime, with sentences of between 30 and 50 years in prison.
For David Castillo, co-author of the murder and former president of the company Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA) and former member of the intelligence services of the Honduran Armed Forces, the Court decided to modify the aggravating circumstances and reduce the sentence.
On March 2, Berta’s family and Copinh once again demanded the capture of the intellectual authors of the murder of the indigenous leader and of Juan López.
To date, only Daniel Atala Zablah, former financial manager of DESA, has been identified as the intellectual author of the murder of Berta Cáceres and he remains a fugitive from justice.
For this reason, in recent days, as a result of the joint effort of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Copinh and the State of Honduras, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) was set up.
Among the tasks it will perform over the next six months is to assist in the investigation into the intellectual authorship and related crimes of the murder of Berta Cáceres.
It will also work on the development of a comprehensive and collective reparation plan for the victims of the case.
“We need serious and committed action and not just words. That is why we strongly say that it has been 9 years without Berta, let it NOT be 10 years without justice,” concluded Bertha Zúniga.
Source: Rebelion, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English