Introduction
Berta Caceres was a strong Honduran indigenous activist who spent her life advocating for the rights of the Lenca community. Lencas are one of the indigenous groups of Honduras. Her mom was a great humanitarian. Berta grew up helping her family take care of refugees from El Salvador. During Berta's childhood, it was extremely dangerous as the civil war was going on in Central America. Her mother was a midwife on the countryside of Honduras. She helped many woman throughout her life. With the help Berta's mom provided, she learned the struggles of underprivileged people. As she grew older she co-founded the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). The focus was to address the Lenca community threats they faced, as well as protect their lives and "fight for their territorial rights", as stated by Goldman Prize. Throughout her life she was leader of many campaigns and was a feminist, as well as supporting LGBT rights. Berta Caceres was the 2015 Goldman Prize Winner.
El Rio
The river, Rio Blanco is very important to Lencas due to spiritual reasons. During the year 2006, the Agua Zarca Dam had begun a construction project that would cause harm to this river. Community members decided to reach out for help to COPINH. A Chinese and Honduran company had decided to start building hydroelectric dams by the river. This was a problem because no one had reached out to locals to ask permission, as is required by law. It would also affect the food resources, drinking water, medicine, and any traditional practices of the Lenca. By 2013, Berta Caceres alongside the community protested for one year. This would happen at the building sites, with many guards escorting protesters who blocked the area from being constructed in. At one point, military members showed up to the protest, killing one man named Tomas Garcia, someone who belonged to COPINH. Three more people were injured during this as well. This would not be the first time they were attacked. Just one year later they were attacked twice, and murdering two additional people and injuring a total of three people. Sinohydro, the Chinese company had decided to stop the project. This was not the case for the other company, Desarollos Energeticos (DESA). In order for DESA to avoid trouble, they decided to relocate in order to being blocked by the protesters. The construction project has now been officially terminated due to anger from protesters and no funding from companies who withdrew from the project. In the year 1948, the Love Canal was used to dispose of waste. This affected the health of residents, impacting the lives of pregnant women and their children. This is another case of a large company not considering the locals health or culture. The community fought for a long time as well, constantly being ignored and undermined.
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| Love Canal |
Death
Caceres dealt with many death threats throughout her protests. The military members who attacked were not the only ones who disliked the beliefs of Caceres. On March 3rd, 2016 Berta Caceres was murdered in her home by gunmen. She had been on an assassination list from the Honduran army for a really long time. A total of seven men were convicted with murder and sentenced from 30 to 50 years in prison. A court ruling had found that DESA had hired military members to murder Berta. Her friend was also injured in the process. The president was arrested for his actions. In 2021 he was declared guilty, then sentenced to twenty two years. Berta Caceres daughter;
Berta Isabel Zuniga Caceres, had stated that in Honduras "It is very easy to pay people to commit murders". Berta Caceres fought hard for her community. They continued protesting even after the countless of people murdered in front of them. Some others were threatened, chased with machetes, and assaulted. Members of COPINH and other activists to this day continue to fight for the rights of the indigenous group, Lenca, in Honduras.
Legacy
The hard work of Lencas had reached international officials. Berta Caceres had collected signatures to prove that the community was strongly against the building of the dam. The Inter-American Human Rights Commission had heard of this, strongly opposed to project funding. The national government, however ignored these statements. They had found ways to pay community members in order for them to sign against the protests. Without the help of people like Berta Caceres, we would have no groups like COPINH who continue to fight for the preservation of indigenous lands. We continue to see large companies taking advantage of indigenous groups, or other communities. This happens not just in the United States, but in other parts of the world. Activists are in great danger trying to fight for a better environment. Communities are removed from their land, pollution begins to harm the health of residents. If we had no groups like COPINH who manage to reach out to international communities, we would have less indigenous groups not being protected. It is such a dangerous thing to do, but activists continue to fight for what they believe is right.
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