Continuing the Fight for Berta

The people and organized movements of Honduras began their 2026 preparing for what is sure to be a year of intense struggle against the extractivist intent of corporate elites at home and abroad. In the case of our beloved and long-standing partners at the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, COPINH), January 12th saw them mobilized in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa to accompany the release of findings by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI in Spanish) – established in 2024 to further the cause of integral justice for slain Indigenous organizer and rights’ defender, Berta Cáceres.

Of the multiple findings made public by the GIEI this week, COPINH shines a light on the following:

1. The GIEI concluded that the murder of Berta Cáceres in 2016 was the result of a carefully planned and executed organized criminal operation involving a network of accomplices… including hitmen, intermediaries with military training, DESA company personnel and executives, as well as networks of support, tolerance, and omission from various areas of the state. The Independent Group’s investigation reconstructs the truth of the events following the murder of Berta Cáceres, reveals key findings in the planning and execution of the crime, and identifies corporate, financial, and state responsibilities in the murder of the defender;
2. The GIEI determined that the funds disbursed by international development banks (…) were diverted from their original purpose and used to finance a series of illegal activities linked to the violent management of the territorial conflict, including illegal surveillance and intelligence operations, armed incursions, logistics and payments associated with these operations, and, ultimately, the murder of Berta Cáceres.

Stay tuned for additional news, updates and analyses on this process by our movement partners in Honduras. In the meantime, we share, embrace, and lift up COPINH’s call, “For Berta – all the truth and all the justice!”

For Further Reading

GIEI-Honduras, Interactive Web Feature [Note: in Spanish]

InSight Crime, “Report Puts International Banks, Honduras Elites at Center of Berta Cáceres Murder”

Peace Brigades International, “PBI-Honduras observes the presentation of the report by the IACHR GIEI on the murder of COPINH co-founder Berta Cáceres”

Peace Brigades International, “PBI-Canada remains attentive to COPINH’s reaction to the IACHR GIEI investigative report on the murder of Berta Cáceres”