Berta Cáceres was shot and killed on the 3th of March 2016 in her home in La Esperanza. She was a leading activist in the struggle of indigenous communities in Honduras and El Salvador and campaigned the privatization of their land. The last struggle was against imperialist companies building a dam in the indigenous Lenca people‘s forest, over a river the indigenous people depend on. Her being murdered sparked international furor, just like the anniversary of her death.
The dam in construction was a project by the company DESA and a state-owned Chinese company, but the building has officially stopped after public outrage. One of the nine arrested suspects in her murder is Roberto David Castillo Mejía, CEO of the company Desarrollos Energéticos Sociedad Anónima (DESA), who was arrested as he was trying to leave the country. He formerly served in the Honduran military as a second lieutenant in the military intelligence unit. Among the other suspects are other high profile military sergeants and majors. On Friday, March 2nd, hundreds of people protested against her murder and the company CEO‘s in La Esperanza. It‘s justified and necessary for the Honduran people to struggle for national liberation from imperialist companies like those involved in Berta Cáceres murder. Caceres "taught us to defend the river, the land and the forest - we are not going to surrender!" said one protester at a rally.
Down with Imperialism!
One of the protesters said „(she) taught us to defend the river, the land and the forest - we are not going to surrender!“.