Honduran authorities have issued a warrant for the apprehension of the suspected orchestrator in the murder of Indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres.
In March 2016, Cáceres was fatally shot in her residence as a retribution for spearheading a movement against the building of a hydroelectric dam that was being funded by international sources.
Last Friday, a court released a warrant for the arrest of Daniel Atala Midence. This decision came after prosecutors officially charged the former financial manager of Desa, a dam company, with orchestrating the murder.
Atala Midence, a member of a prominent economic and political family in the nation, co-managed Desa with company president David Castillo.
Castillo, a US-trained former intelligence officer, was last year sentenced to 22 years and six months for his role in ordering and planning the assassination.
Atala Midence was summoned to give evidence in Castillo’s 2021 trial due to his role in running operations – which included authorising payments to informants used to monitor Cáceres. But Atala Midence was excused at the last minute after state prosecutors revealed that he was under investigation for the murder.
The majority owners of the dam company are Atala Midence’s father and two uncles, also known as the Atala Zablah brothers. Prosecutors have not implicated them in the assassination.
The announcement of the charges and arrest warrant was received with open arms by Cáceres’s children. Her eldest daughter, Olivia Zúniga Cáceres, who currently serves as the Honduran ambassador to Cuba, expressed that the family is hopeful for a fair outcome.
Lawyer Victor Fernández, who is representing the family, expressed a desire for justice and an end to impunity.
Reworded: Cáceres, who served as the coordinator for the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (Copinh), was renowned for her advocacy in protecting indigenous Lenca land and preserving natural resources. Additionally, she was highly regarded for her expertise in political analysis, dedication to women’s rights, and activism against capitalism.
On March 2, 2016, two days before her 45th birthday, she was killed by paid assassins. She had received numerous threats for her opposition to the Agua Zarca dam, a 22-megawatt project on the Gualcarque river that holds significance for the Lenca community. Along with Castillo, seven others, including two former military officers trained by the US, have been found guilty for their involvement in the murder.
After the 2009 coup, a pro-business authoritarian government approved the construction of a dam on the Gualcarque river. However, the project did not meet the necessary environmental and community standards set by both national and international regulations.
Xiomara Castro, the President currently attending the UN climate conference in Dubai, declined to provide a statement regarding the matter.
Nina Lakhani wrote the book titled “Who Killed Berta Cáceres? Dams, Death Squads, and an Indigenous Defender’s Battle for the Planet.”
Source: theguardian.com
