Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores
HONDURAS
(1971–2016) Berta Cáceres was an environmental organizer. Her mother, a midwife and activist, cared for refugees from El Salvador during the violence in the 1980s. She became mayor of their town and governor of the state at a time when few women held these roles.
In 1993, Cáceres became a student activist and cofounded the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) to help Lenca Indigenous communities like hers improve their livelihoods, gain territorial rights, and fight illegal development. In 2006, residents of Rio Blanco asked COPINH for help to fight against the Agua Zarca Dam on a sacred Lenca river. They lodged appeals to state, national, and international authorities, but the government forged ahead. In April 2013, she organized a road blockade to prevent access to the dam site. For over a year the Lenca people used a system of alerts to stay informed and maintain a peaceful presence at the site.
They received death threats and were attacked by security contractors and the Honduran army. But she liked to say, “They fear us because we’re fearless.” After the murder of activist Tomas Garcia, some companies began to pull out of the project, citing ongoing community resistance and outrage. On March 3, 2016, Berta Cáceres was murdered in her home. COPINH continues to help the Lenca people reclaim ancestral lands and stop environmental damage from mining, dams, and logging operations. The Agua Zarca Dam has not been completed. Read more at the Zinn Education Project.
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