I realize that if I document every climate activist murder, that would be the dominant post category (and I’d be even crankier) – but to ignore these murders or even consider them normal is just wrong. Simply wrong.
Grist put out an AP story about Honduran Indigenous activist, Cerros Escalante. This death is consistent with other latin american activist murders. Indigenous activist, brutal murder / terror intended, and the fight against corporate interests.
Cerros was killed in front of his children, just as the terror was used in the 2016 Berta Caceres murder.
Quote:
Cerros Escalante, 41, was a member of Honduras’ Lenca Indigenous community. He was gunned down Sunday in front of a church in the town of Nueva Granada, in the Caribbean coast province of Cortes. Betty Vásquez, the coordinator of the Santa Barbara Environmental Movement, said Cerros Escalante was killed in front of his children. “We condemn the killing of yet another comrade and activist,” said Vásquez. “It is not conceivable, it is not right, that they criminalize people, persecute people and later kill them for defending the land. We consider this a political assassination.” Cerros Escalante led a local group called “Communities United,” which was active in hamlets near the Rio Ulúa and which opposed the El Tornillito hydroelectric dam.
In 2020, 12 indigenous climate activists were murdered in Honduras. Speak out!
Featured image is of Berta Caceres, another Honduran activist and winner of the Goldman prize, who was murdered in 2016.