The Death of Berta Cáceres

Activist Berta Cáceres, 44, spoke out against the government awarding contracts for hydroelectric dams throughout Honduras, including areas inhabited by indigenous people. Her murder is drawing attention to her efforts as well as violence and corruption in Honduras. “Cáceres was on the front lines from the start, having founded the group that has organized much of the opposition, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras,” reports Jonathan Blitzer for the New Yorker, adding that by 2013, “the Chinese engineering and construction company Sinohydro and an arm of the World Bank¬ – withdrew their support because of the public opposition and increasingly bloody state crackdown.” More than 200 religious environmental, and human-rights groups are calling for a thorough and independent investigation. Foreign contractors Siemens and Voith Hydro continue the work, Blitzer reports, but Cáceres’s assassination may bring new scrutiny to deals and relationships with the Hernández administration in Honduras. – YaleGlobal