TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — For months before her death, environmental activist Berta Caceres complained of repeated threats warning her to stop leading protests opposing a hydroelectric project on her Lenca people’s ancestral lands.
Then, on March 3, armed men forced their way into Caceres’ home in the middle of the night, shot her four times and wounded a visiting Mexican activist, who survived by playing dead. The killing prompted widespread condemnation and calls for an independent investigation, in part due to Caceres’ international prominence as the winner of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.
Caceres’ slaying remained officially shrouded in mystery until Monday, when authorities arrested four people in the case, including a security employee working on behalf of Desarrollos Energeticos SA, or DESA, the company carrying out the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project.
The fact that those arrested have DESA and army ties was no surprise to Caceres’ allies and relatives, who have long suspected the company and elements of Honduras’ government and military of being behind her killing.
Previously unpublicized court records from 2014 show that the government and DESA repeatedly sought to tar Caceres and her colleagues as violent anarchists bent on terrorizing the population through their protests at the project site. In filings seeking an injunction against the demonstrations, Caceres and two leaders of her organization were accused of “usurpation, coercion and continued damage” and even attempting to undermine the democratic order.
Activists say the demonizing language helped create a dangerous climate of hostility and harassment that they link directly to her murder.
“These court documents go beyond just showing the contempt the dam company holds toward Berta Caceres and her organization,” said Billy Kyte, a senior campaigner for land and environmental defense at London-based Global Witness, which acquired the records through lawyers working with Caceres’ people and shared them exclusively with The Associated Press.
“It’s evidence of a company ready to do whatever it takes to neutralize opposition to its business,” he added. “The legal harassment and threats … are a stark reminder of the huge risks faced by Honduran activists.”
Kyte said Caceres reported receiving threats from DESA security personnel, as well as an attempt by a company official to bribe her to call off the demonstrations.
Multiple phone calls to DESA went unanswered, and there was no response to questions delivered to its headquarters in Tegucigalpa. Via email, the public relations office of DESA’s Agua Zarca project issued a statement denying responsibility for Caceres’ slaying but did not respond to AP questions about the court records. The Public Ministry, which is listed as a co-plaintiff, also declined multiple requests for comment on the documents.
Juan Sanchez Cantillano, who represented DESA in the appeals filings, said the case against Caceres’ group was based on Public Ministry accounts of damage allegedly caused by the protesters.
“The company was harmed by the protests, which were not peaceful but instead violent,” said Sanchez, who no longer represents the company. “The protesters invaded the terrain of DESA and burned the machinery and the offices. … They destroyed everything.”
Honduras is one of the most violent countries on the planet, according to homicide statistics. It’s also one of the most dangerous to be an environmental activist, with 109 killed between 2010 and 2015, according to Global Witness.
Violence against land activists is common across Latin America, with over 450 slain in 2010-14, the group said. Drivers of conflict include mining projects in Peru, ranching in the Brazilian Amazon, Colombia’s civil war and hydroelectric projects in Guatemala and Honduras.
The Agua Zarca project, located in the Montana Verde reserve in western Honduras, was conceived to harness the power of the Gualcarque River, which is considered sacred by the indigenous Lenca community.