Indigenous protest marks activist's murder

pulse

March 2, 2017 12:35 AM

Activists protest demanding justice in the case of the murder of indigenous enviromentalist Berta Caceres in the first anniversary of her demise, in Tegucigalpa, on March 1, 2017

About 600 mostly indigenous Hondurans held a protest in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of murdered activist Berta Caceres and further her campaign against a hydroelectric company.

"Long live Berta. The struggle continues," yelled the crowd, which included workers, villagers, women and rights activists.

The demonstration was held nearly a year after the March 3, 2016, murder of Caceres, 45, in her home.

Before her death, the activist leader had opposed plans by the company Desarrollos Energeticos to build a hydroelectric dam across a river on which indigenous communities were dependent. She had said she had received death threats from the firm.

One of Wednesday's protest organizers, Tomas Gomez of the Civic Council of Community and Indigenous Organizations, told AFP the demonstrators were calling for the company's government license to be revoked.

A representative of the native Garifuna people, Miriam Miranda, said they also wanted the masterminds behind Caceres's killing to be punished.

Eight people have been arrested in connection with the murder, among them an employee of Desarrollos Energeticos.

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