“Sharmi Speaks”
“Berta Cáceres” — The Honduran Human Rights and Environmental Activist Assassinated For Protecting The Environment
By — Sharmi Thavayogarajah*
Defender of the environment. Defender of human rights.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Berta Cáceres, who was born to the indigenous community of Lenca, in Honduras. Being born to a social activist, Cáceres learnt the importance of human rights and environmental protection at a very young age. As she hid and waited to be found during games of hide-and-go-seek, she often found herself wondering why it was so hard to feel safe in the community. As she grew up in the shadows of violence and civil unrest that haunted Central America, she wasn’t new to such chaos.
As Cáceres stepped into her teenage years, she began activism as a result of her strife for a rightful society — where the environment and the indigenous people were safe. She carried on her optimism into adulthood, co-founding COPINH. Often working round the clock, she would say “I’m not tired yet, we can keep going”.
It was a fine day when Cáceres found herself in the international spot of attention in 2015. She put on her pink dress and walked graciously onto the stage to receive the Goldman Environmental Prize for playing a heroic role in putting a halt in the construction of a hydro-electric dam. She campaigned ever so bravely, specifically, against the Agua Zarca dam- built by Honduran company Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA). This dam would have flooded lands, damaged wildlife, emitted greenhouse gases and cut off supply of food, medicine and other essentials for numerous Lenca people. Knowing the power the company held, she wasn’t terrified. She often loved to say “they fear us because we are fearless”.
As her activism days aged with her, Cáceres was threatened of rape and murder if she continued her campaigns. This didn’t stop her. But, little did she know that her passion for people and the environment would cost her her life.
On the silent, deadly night of March 2nd, 2016, armed men broke into her home and shot her. The gunshots that echoed through the walls of her home killed her on the spot.
Two years after her death, on the 30th of November, The Honduran National Criminal Court convicted seven men of Cáceres murder. Further finding out that these men were hired by the executives of DESA.
As she rests, justice is still fought for. The strength of her movement still lives through her fellow activists and through COPINH. Her death led to the birth of Berta Cáceres Human Rights Act that protects the crossroad of land rights of indigenous people and environmentalism.
*Sharmi authors the “Sharmi Speaks” Column of the Just My Nature Blog. Every week she shares inspiring stories of female environmentalists from all over the world.
