Berta Cáceres, an environmentalist and indigenous activist, was murdered last March 3rd, by the dictatorial government of Honduras. We dedicate this Working Women’s International Day to her and the struggle she undertook until the last day of her life. Long live Berta Cáceres!
On March 3rd during the night, the environmental indigenous activist, leader of the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH in Spanish), feminist, oppositionist of the dictatorial regime in the country, mother of four, daughter of a struggling woman, Berta Cáceres was assassinated in her home.
She had been previously threatened of rape, being lynched, of having her son or mother kidnapped. She was arrested in 2013. They were different ways to try to intimidate an unwavering fighter, who has never surrendered.
Berta received the Goldman Price[1], because of her COPINH leadership in the struggle of the indigenous Lenca dwellers against the building of the Agua Zarca Dam. After a hard struggle which costed the life of three Lenca’s leaders, they obtained a major victory against the world’s largest dam builder, Sinohydro, and the International Financial Corporation, a Wolrd Bank institution.
She also received the Shalom Award in Germany, given “to those who struggle for justice and peace in the world, and many times risk their lives to this commitment”. After the 2009 military coup, Berta led many oppositionist demonstrations.
Honduras has been declared the world’s most dangerous country to environmental activists. Just during the last decade, there were 111 murders of activists for this cause. After the coup, a militarization process took place, with a strong clamp-down on activists, who fear for their lives. The state stands by the companies predating nature and exploiting the workforce. It doesn’t just protect these companies but also threatens the lives of fighters like Berta Cáceres, Tomás Gómez or Aureliano Molina.[2]
We dedicate this Working Women’s International Day to a tireless fighter for the exploited and oppressed people on the Earth, whose life was taken by an evil system that predates nature and human beings.
In Berta’s words:
“The hard struggles now are in the defense of rivers, forests, territories, for our autonomy, against transnationals, but we also confront militarism, repression and all kind of oppressions: our fight should not only be against the oligarchy or the transnational companies, but also against patriarchy and against racism as forms of domination.”
We express our sincere condolencies and solidarity with the COPINH, the Lenca community and the Honduran people. This painful death affects the international social movement as a whole and we call on to mourn for her and to organize protest actions against her assassination.
Respect for the indigenous people!
Stop criminalization of social protest and repression of activists! The state is responsible!
On March 8 and always: Long live Berta Cáceres!
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Notes:
[1] – Goldman Environmental Prize is the most important award given to envirnomental activists. Berta Cáceres received the award in 2015, for the struggle mentioned above, in 2013.
[2] Tomás Gómez and Aureliano Molina are two activists who, together with Berta, led the struggle against Agua Zarca. The three of them were preventively arrested, besides suffering persecution and all kind of attacks, including threatens to their families, as mentioned on the article.
