“You have the bullet, I have the word. The bullet dies when it is detonated, the word lives when spread.” – Berta Cáceres

On June 2, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “63 months after the murder of Berta Cáceres for defending the Indigenous and territorial rights in Honduras, a thorough investigation of all the masterminds of the crime is urgently needed.”

Cáceres is the Indigenous Lenca co-founder of the Civil Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras (COPINH).

PBI-Honduras has been accompanying COPINH during the trial of former DESA hydroelectric dam executive David Castillo who is accused of being an intellectual author in the murder of Cáceres on March 2, 2016.

Castillo is alleged to have coordinated with and provided funds to, the men who were the material authors of the murder of Cáceres.

Cáceres opposed the Agua Zarca dam that DESA was building on the Gualcarque River without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Indigenous Lenca people. The Intercept has reported that DESA executives had become angry when Cáceres’ protests disrupted their investment in the hydroelectric dam.

In December 2019, when four hitmen were sentenced for this crime, Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres stated: “These sentences are a start in breaking the impunity, but we’re going to make every effort to ensure that all those responsible – the company executives and state officials identified in the trial – are prosecuted.”

She had also commented: “There is only one case open – which has also been extremely delayed – and that is of David Castillo, the president of the company. However, for us, David Castillo is a minor and in fact, the weakest representative of the powerful people that took the decision and economically lent support to this crime.”

PBI-Honduras has accompanied COPINH since May 2016.

#JusticiaParaBerta

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