On Saturday, September 14, in Tocoa, Juan López, a Honduran environmentalist and councilman of the Municipality of Tocoa for the Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre), was shot and killed. He was a dedicated environmental defender and was engaged in struggles against open-pit mining, for which he had been threatened on several occasions. As a result, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requested special protection to safeguard his life in 2023.
López was part of an organization in Tocoa, the Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCP), which had been organizing against several extractive projects in the Tocoa region and had prevented several mining companies from exploring and exploiting the subsoil of several natural areas that would have suffered almost irreparable ecological damage. On several occasions, López had stated that his life was at risk and that there were no guarantees that his life could be protected from the threats of the economic interests promoting mining in Honduras. “When you leave your home you always have in mind that you don’t know what can happen to you and if you can go back home, and if you can see your family again,” he said in an interview with AFP in 2021.
López was killed in a popular neighborhood of Tocoa while in his car. The perpetrators escaped and are still being searched for by the police. According to the NGO Global Witness, during 2023, 18 environmental leaders were murdered in Honduras, making it the second most dangerous country for environmentalists, only behind Brazil (25) and Colombia (79).
The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) has condemned the act and has accused the national government of not having taken sufficient measures to protect López’s life despite having a formal request from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: “Juan was murdered for his work in defense of the Guapinol River against the Los Pinares Ecotek Mining Company of Lenin Pérez and its local mafias. Juan was murdered days after calling for the resignation of the mayor of Tocoa, Adán Fúnez, for his links to drug trafficking.”
For her part, President Xiomara Castro condemned the murder in her X account: “We repudiate the vile murder of comrade and environmental leader Juan López in Tocoa, Colón. I have ordered that all the capacity of the forces of law and order be used to clarify this tragedy and identify those responsible. I express my solidarity with his family, comrades, and friends. Justice for Juan López.”
Once again, the dark interests behind the mining business have opted for the assassination of Latin American environmental leaders who fight against the destruction of nature. Nearly 70% of all environmental defenders murdered in the world are Latin American. In this way, Juan López joins an infamous list that continues to grow year after year.
