Bertha Cáceres

Honduran environmental activist assassinated for leading indigenous resistance against hydroelectric dams.

Bertha Cáceres (1971–2016), a Lenca leader and co-founder of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), became a global symbol of environmental justice. She organized opposition to the Agua Zarca Dam project, which threatened the Gualcarque River sacred to the Lenca people.

Despite death threats, Cáceres mobilized international support, convincing companies like Sinohydro to withdraw from the project. In 2015, she won the Goldman Environmental Prize, amplifying her campaign. Tragically, she was assassinated in 2016, sparking worldwide outrage and investigations into state-corporate collusion.

Her legacy thrives through the Bertha Cáceres International Feminist Organizing School, training activists in decolonial resistance. Seven hired killers were convicted in 2021, but intellectual authors remain unpunished, highlighting impunity in environmental conflicts.

Cáceres' motto—"They fear us because we are fearless"—inspires movements like Global Witness to protect land defenders. Her daughter Berta Zúñiga continues leading COPINH, ensuring her mother's vision endures.