It is with great sadness and outrage that we share news of the assassination yesterday of Berta Cáceres, a Honduran indigenous and environmental rights activist. She was shot by gunmen in her hometown roughly a week after she was threatened for opposing a hydroelectric project on indigenous lands.
We were fortunate to have spent time with and learned from Berta when she visited the Rapoport Center last November. She spoke powerfully of the struggles of the Lenca people for autonomy, land rights, and environmental justice. We were all moved by her passion and commitment to continue working in her community despite the constant threats and risks involved.
A member of the Lenca, Berta co-founded COPINH (The Council of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras), a social and political movement that represents the interests and needs of indigenous populations in Honduras. In 2015, she was awarded the Rothko Chapel’s Óscar Romero Award, which honors those working under extraordinary circumstances to advance human rights, and the Goldman Environmental Prize, which recognizes and supports the work of grassroots environmental activists.
We will soon write a letter to the government of Honduras, calling upon it to investigate her murder promptly and to provide additional support and protection for human rights activists in the region. To honor Berta’s struggle and to help support future generations of human rights activists, we will award the Berta Cáceres Human Rights Fellowship to a University of Texas law student working in human rights.
If you are interested, video of the event at UT in which Berta participated is available in English and en espańol. You can also see photos of the event here.