The daughter of Berta Cáceres denounces irregularities in the trial against the alleged murderer of the environmentalist

A woman in a camp in which different social and indigenous organizations demand justice for the environmentalist Berta Cáceres, in Tegucigalpa.Gustavo Amador / EFE

Five years have passed since the murder of the Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres and her daughter, Berta Zúñiga, affirms that several of those involved in her mother's crime continue to go unchallenged in Honduras, a country with a high rate of impunity, mainly when it is about clarifying crimes against environmentalists. The activist's family is relieved that at least seven people were already convicted in 2019 and this week the trial against Roberto David Castillo is taking place, accused of being the intellectual actor in the murder. Zúñiga, however, denounces that the Honduran State protects other people involved, including members of the powerful Atala family, owner of the company Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA), to whom the Government granted the concession of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project.Cáceres opposed.

More information

• The daughter of Berta Cáceres denounces "collusion between the military and businessmen" to assassinate her mother

• More than 120 environmentalists have been murdered in Honduras since 2010

• Berta Cáceres, environmentalist and indigenous leader, murdered in Honduras

"During all this time it has been clear that there is a criminal structure that includes people who are protected by the State," says Berta Zúñiga in a telephone conversation with EL PAÍS. The young woman, in addition to several members of the Atala family, points to Honduran police officers. In the case of the Atala, he says that there have been "hundreds of messages" analyzed by experts involved in his mother's case that can be used as evidence of the participation of Honduran businessmen. “They traffic in influence. They communicate with former president and ministers. It is urgent that the Public Ministry take action and stop protecting them, ”Zúñiga demands.

In 2017, DESA sent a message to this newspaper in which it stated that it was "completely unrelated to the unfortunate events that ended the life of Berta Cáceres." The Honduran Prosecutor's Office, however, claimed in its 2018 indictment that Castillo, then DESA's executive president, asked the company's head of security, retired military officer Douglas Bustillo, to organize the murder. Bustillo turned to an old friend from the Army, Major Mariano Díaz Chávez, an instructor in the Military Police and a member of the Special Forces, to hire some hitmen. They were paid up to 2,200 dollars (1,986 euros) to commit the crime, according to the Prosecutor's Office. Both Bustillo and Díaz Chávez were sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2019.

While the family of Berta Cáceres hopes that other people involved in the crime will be brought to trial soon, they are watching with expectation the process against Castillo, which will extend during this and next week. Despite feeling "lucky" because her mother's case has not been totally left unpunished, Zúñiga affirms that there have been irregularities in the trial and accuses the Prosecutor's Office of maintaining "great secrecy" in handling the investigation. “The Prosecutor's Office has ignored our right to know the lines of investigation. If it weren't for international pressure, Castillo would not be being prosecuted, ”says Zúñiga.

Gonzalo Sáenz, representative of the International Observation Mission in the trial, shares the complaints of Cáceres's daughter and affirms that the Public Ministry has handled information that it has not shared with the team that defends the activist's case and that may also affect to other people involved in the crime. "It is the responsibility of the State to clarify all the facts related to Berta's case," he says. All in all, Sáenz takes note of how important it is for Honduras that the trial against Castillo be carried out, because it can create a precedent in a country where dozens of crimes against environmentalists have been committed and remain unpunished.

Berta Cáceres had publicly denounced Castillo for death threats. "She pointed out that if someone was going to kill her that person was him," says her daughter. The ecologist had openly opposed the construction of the Agua Zarca dam, a hydroelectric project that would affect the Gualcarque River, an important source of resources for Honduran indigenous communities. Cáceres mobilized the indigenous people, denounced the project and attracted international attention. For his environmental struggle, he was awarded the Goldman Enviromental Prize, the most prestigious award in his field. Bertha Zúñiga claims that DESA executives gave their consent to the murder of her mother.

A Honduran court convicted seven people in 2019 for the activist's murder, including the three hitmen who shot her in March 2016, two former military personnel and two workers linked to the DESA company. The court found guilty Sergio Rodríguez (DESA communications manager), Mariano Díaz (active major in the Honduran army), Douglas Bustillo (retired lieutenant and former DESA security chief), Henry Hernández (ex-military) and the hitmen Elvin Rápalo , Óscar Torres and Edilson Duarte, as co-authors of the murder. Cáceres's family hopes that David Castillo, DESA's executive president and accused of being the mastermind of the murder against the activist, will also be sentenced at the end of the trial against him. “This is a process for the memory of my mother.I know that it takes a long way for others involved to be tried, but for what our country [Honduras] is and its high impunity, this process marks a path and thus prevents other crimes from going unpunished, ”says Berta Zúñiga.

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