Berta Cáceres

Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores was a Lenca Indigenous leader from western Honduras and a mother of four. Honduran newspaper La Prensa gives her date of birth as 4 March 1972 (other sources differ on the year). In 1993 she co-founded the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (COPINH) to respond to threats from illegal logging and to defend Lenca territorial rights, according to the Goldman Environmental Prize.

From 2006, residents of Río Blanco raised concerns about construction of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River. The Goldman Prize records that Cáceres filed complaints with the authorities, organised a community assembly against the dam and took the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. From April 2013 she helped organise a peaceful road blockade that held for more than a year.

Large dam construction on the Gualcarque River; Indigenous land and river rights; illegal logging

According to the Goldman Environmental Prize, in late 2013 the Chinese contractor Sinohydro ended its contract with the developer DESA, citing community resistance, and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation withdrew its funding, citing concerns about human rights violations. She received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015.

Confirmed killing

Berta Cáceres was shot dead by gunmen at her home in La Esperanza in the early hours of 3 March 2016. Gustavo Castro, who was in the house, survived, and the later convictions also covered his attempted murder (COPINH). On 29 November 2018 a Honduran court convicted seven men, and on 2 December 2019 they were sentenced to between 30 and 50 years in prison (WOLA). On 5 July 2021 Roberto David Castillo, the former president of DESA, the company building the Agua Zarca dam, was convicted as a co-author of the murder, and on 20 June 2022 he was sentenced to 22 years and six months (WOLA; National Catholic Reporter). According to COPINH, in November 2024 the Criminal Chamber of Honduras's Supreme Court upheld the convictions of the seven men and confirmed Castillo's conviction while reducing his sentence. COPINH maintains that other alleged planners of the crime have not been brought to justice; this is the organisation's position rather than a court finding.

We use careful labels for deaths connected with environmental defence. How we classify them.

COPINH continues her work and continues to campaign for those it believes planned the killing to be brought to justice. Her case has become one of the most widely cited examples of the risks faced by Indigenous and environmental defenders in Latin America.

1. 1993Co-founds COPINH.
2. 2006Río Blanco residents raise concerns over the Agua Zarca dam on the Gualcarque River.
3. 2013Peaceful road blockade begins in April; Sinohydro withdraws later that year and the IFC withdraws funding.
4. 2015Receives the Goldman Environmental Prize.
5. 2016Shot dead at her home in La Esperanza on 3 March.
6. 2018Seven men convicted on 29 November; sentenced in December 2019 to 30–50 years.
7. 2021Former DESA president Roberto David Castillo convicted as co-author; sentenced in June 2022 to 22 years and six months.
8. 2024Supreme Court's Criminal Chamber upholds convictions (as reported by COPINH).