Honduras: The Epicentre Of Land Defense

One year ago, Honduras became the epicentre of an unspoken trend: the escalating murders of indigenous activists defending their land. The indigenous lenka activist Berta Cáseres was shot dead in front of her house in La Esperanza. After being threatened repeatedly, her high profile opposing a hydroelectric project was the main target in the country.

“A peasant without land is someone without a country, without a mother.” 

If there is something everyone agrees on it is that the murder of Berta Cáseres was an eye-opener. Her case raised global awareness about the killings of indigenous leaders in Latin America. With an open cause and the add-on of US intervention, a revived indigenous organisation achieved to suspend Agua Zarca dam project operated by the national company DESA. The project that Cáseres managed to successfully campaign against with the support of grassroots organisations and international NGOs.

But, which was the price paid by the local communities?

This article goes in depth into how extractive policies can shape the future of a country and compromise human rights standards through the use of criminalisation to silence indigenous activists.