The US State Department Maintains a Hands-Off Approach to Honduras, Despite Wave of Activist Murders

The US State Department Maintains a Hands-Off Approach to Honduras, Despite Wave of Activist Murders

By Darren Ankrom

March 21, 2016 | 12:45 pm

Two high-profile murders of activists in Honduras — including a recipient of the world's leading environmental prize — have prompted calls for the US government to halt aid to the country and for the US Department of State to more aggressively push for an investigation.

Berta Cáceres, co-founder of COPINH, which has long-championed indigenous rights and grassroots battles against mining and logging, was shot dead in her sleep on March 3, less than a year after receiving the Goldman Environmental Prize.

And on Tuesday another COPINH member, Nelson García, was shot and killed. García had met with families from the indigenous Lenca community after Honduran police and military forces, carrying out eviction orders, destroyed their homes and crops.

Both activists were frequent and fierce critics of corruption within the Honduran government and big industry's displacement of indigenous communities.

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