Honduras: Berta Cáceres' daughter explains the role of the United States in the murder of her mother, renowned indigenous environmental defender
“4 Years Seeking Justice: Daughter of Slain Indigenous Environmental Leader Berta Cáceres Speaks Out”, 17th January 2020
…Last month in the capital of Tegucigalpa, seven men were sentenced to up to 50 years in prison for her killing…In November of 2018, a court ruled her killing was ordered by executives of the Honduran company behind the Agua Zarca dam, known as DESA, who hired the convicted hitmen to carry out the killing. At least two of the men involved in the murder were trained by U.S. military forces…
LAURA ZÚÑIGA CÁCERES: [translated] I believe that what we have seen since the coup is how extractivism has massively entered into our country. And through that extractivism, we see how the military are able to gain control of these extractive companies…And we also witness how the government of the United States is complicit and allows the installation of this coup. Then we see how the United States government continues to support governments in Honduras which are highly repressive and violators of human rights…
[T]he most obvious evidence about how soldiers are trained by the U.S. government to kill land and water defenders is the training that both Mariano Díaz Chávez and David Castillo received from the United States and that aided them in carrying out the murder of my mother…