Berta Caceres. Photo Courtesy of RightsAndResources.org

Berta Caceras of the Indigenous organization COPINH in Honduras was a long-time ally from before GJEP when we were working as ACERCA.  She was a powerful force and a tremendously effective organizer.  This is a horrible loss, and another example of the danger of being an Indigenous organizer taking on big companies and governments over destruction of Indigenous lands.

Berta Caceres, the coordinator and co-founder of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras, or COPIHN, was killed by unknown assailants early Thursday morning. teleSUR correspondent in Honduras, Gilda Silvestruci, confirmed that Caceres was killed at 1:00 a.m. local time inside her home in La Esperanza in the western province of Intibuca. Caceres was leader of the Lenca Indigenous community and was a staunch human rights defender. She won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015.