"US Congress calls for action on Honduras in response to murders of land and environmental activists", 7 Apr 2017

In two strongly worded letters to the new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, almost 80 United States legislators...expressed their grave concern at the risks facing activists who defend their land and the environment in Honduras. A recent Global Witness report exposed how more than 120 land rights defenders have been killed since 2010... [w]ho took a stand against abusive dams, mines, logging or large-scale agriculture on their land. The US is implicated. In 2016 it provided US$98.3 million in bilateral assistance to Honduras, on top of millions more through multilateral agreements. A large chunk of these aid dollars are funding the police or military, which are behind many of the attacks. [L]awmakers from both the Senate and the House of Representatives have called upon the Trump administration to take stronger action to support activists and prevent investment in abusive industries. They demand that US assistance to Honduras be withheld if a stricter inspection of their human rights record proves that the country is not complying with aid conditions...Recognising that abusive projects will cease to exist without investment, they call for the State Department to work with the Treasury to oppose financing by International Financial Institutions, such as the World Bank, in industries associated with human rights violations. [Refers to Desarrollos Energéticos (DESA)].