SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Military and Energy Company Officials Arrested for Murder of Berta Caceres
Honduran authorities say they are pursuing murder charges for the March 3rd killing of the environmental and Indigenous rights activist
May 02, 2016
Authorities have arrested four suspects in the assassination of environmental and indigenous rights activist Berta Caceres, the Honduran attorney general announced on Monday.
Adding credence to suspicions that Caceres' killing was politically-motivated, among those arrested were Honduran military officials as well as an employee of Desarrollos Energeticos (or DESA), the private energy company behind the Agua Zarca dam, which Caceres fiercely opposed.
Central American-based freelance journalist Sandra Cuffe reported Monday that the arrests included Mariano Diaz Chavez and Edilson Atilio Duarte Meza. Cuffe wrote, "Honduran Armed Forces spokesperson identified Diaz as a major and Duarte as a former member of the military."
Cuffe also identified Douglas Geovanny Bustillo as a "retired Air Force Lt. and head of DESA security," citing a 2013 report (pdf) by the nonprofit Rights Action about the Agua Zarca landgrab, and reported that "Sergio Rodriguez Orellana, an employee of the DESA hydro-electric company, was also detained as a suspect."
Before her death, Caceres reported being threatened by Rodriguez and other "local thugs" employed by DESA during recent protests.
According to a statement by the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the arrests took place after a series of ten raids Monday morning, dubbed "Operation Jaguar," in Tegucigalpa, La Ceiba, and Trujillo. Prosecutors are pursuing murder charges in Caceres' death and and attempted murder for Mexican environmental activist Gustavo Castro, who was witness to the March 3rd killing.
Meanwhile, Caceres' daughter, Bertha Zuniga Caceres, is currently touring Europe with members of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), which her mother co-founded. The delegation is calling on international governments to speak out against the murder and support the Lenca tribe's fight against the proposed dam on the sacred River Gualcarque.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Authorities have arrested four suspects in the assassination of environmental and indigenous rights activist Berta Caceres, the Honduran attorney general announced on Monday.
Adding credence to suspicions that Caceres' killing was politically-motivated, among those arrested were Honduran military officials as well as an employee of Desarrollos Energeticos (or DESA), the private energy company behind the Agua Zarca dam, which Caceres fiercely opposed.
Central American-based freelance journalist Sandra Cuffe reported Monday that the arrests included Mariano Diaz Chavez and Edilson Atilio Duarte Meza. Cuffe wrote, "Honduran Armed Forces spokesperson identified Diaz as a major and Duarte as a former member of the military."
Cuffe also identified Douglas Geovanny Bustillo as a "retired Air Force Lt. and head of DESA security," citing a 2013 report (pdf) by the nonprofit Rights Action about the Agua Zarca landgrab, and reported that "Sergio Rodriguez Orellana, an employee of the DESA hydro-electric company, was also detained as a suspect."
Before her death, Caceres reported being threatened by Rodriguez and other "local thugs" employed by DESA during recent protests.
According to a statement by the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the arrests took place after a series of ten raids Monday morning, dubbed "Operation Jaguar," in Tegucigalpa, La Ceiba, and Trujillo. Prosecutors are pursuing murder charges in Caceres' death and and attempted murder for Mexican environmental activist Gustavo Castro, who was witness to the March 3rd killing.
Meanwhile, Caceres' daughter, Bertha Zuniga Caceres, is currently touring Europe with members of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), which her mother co-founded. The delegation is calling on international governments to speak out against the murder and support the Lenca tribe's fight against the proposed dam on the sacred River Gualcarque.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Authorities have arrested four suspects in the assassination of environmental and indigenous rights activist Berta Caceres, the Honduran attorney general announced on Monday.
Adding credence to suspicions that Caceres' killing was politically-motivated, among those arrested were Honduran military officials as well as an employee of Desarrollos Energeticos (or DESA), the private energy company behind the Agua Zarca dam, which Caceres fiercely opposed.
Central American-based freelance journalist Sandra Cuffe reported Monday that the arrests included Mariano Diaz Chavez and Edilson Atilio Duarte Meza. Cuffe wrote, "Honduran Armed Forces spokesperson identified Diaz as a major and Duarte as a former member of the military."
Cuffe also identified Douglas Geovanny Bustillo as a "retired Air Force Lt. and head of DESA security," citing a 2013 report (pdf) by the nonprofit Rights Action about the Agua Zarca landgrab, and reported that "Sergio Rodriguez Orellana, an employee of the DESA hydro-electric company, was also detained as a suspect."
Before her death, Caceres reported being threatened by Rodriguez and other "local thugs" employed by DESA during recent protests.
According to a statement by the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the arrests took place after a series of ten raids Monday morning, dubbed "Operation Jaguar," in Tegucigalpa, La Ceiba, and Trujillo. Prosecutors are pursuing murder charges in Caceres' death and and attempted murder for Mexican environmental activist Gustavo Castro, who was witness to the March 3rd killing.
Meanwhile, Caceres' daughter, Bertha Zuniga Caceres, is currently touring Europe with members of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), which her mother co-founded. The delegation is calling on international governments to speak out against the murder and support the Lenca tribe's fight against the proposed dam on the sacred River Gualcarque.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.