Berta Caceres Justice: Honduras Arrests 5th Suspected Killer

A Honduran judge is set to decide Sunday whether the suspects in the murder of renowned activist Berta Caceres will face justice for the assassination, while authorities have arrested a fifth suspect involved in the case that has attracted high-profile national and international attention since Caceres was shot dead in her home over two months ago.

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The court ruling, expected at 4:00 p.m. local time in Honduras’ capital city of Tegucigalpa, will determine whether the suspects will face charges for Caceres’ murder on March 3 and the attempted murder of Mexican environmental activist Gustavo Castro, the sole witness and victim in the attack.

Four suspects connected with the murder—retired Air Force lieutenant and DESA hydroelectric company private security chief Douglas Bustillo, DESA executive Sergio Rodriguez, high-ranking active military official Mariano Diaz, and retired military official Edilson Duarte—were arrested last Monday.

A fifth suspect, the twin brother of Edilson Duarte, Emerson Eusebio Duarte, was also arrested Monday but immediately released. He was recaptured on Friday for reportedly being in possession of the gun used to murder Caceres.

The suspects are connected to the Honduran military and DESA, the company behind the unwanted Agua Zarca hydroelectric project that Caceres and her COPINH Indigenous movement tirelessly resisted for years.

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Caceres family has stressed that they want the masterminds behind the crime, not only those who pulled the trigger, held responsible for the murder. The family’s lawyer has argued that a six person was also involved in the assassination.

Supporters and family members have demanded an independent, internationally-led investigation be conducted to uncover the truth behind Caceres’ murder, but Honduran authorities have not responded to national and international pressure. Relatives have said they have no confidence in the official government-headed investigation.

Prior to her murder, Caceres had received repeated death threats and other forms of harassment as a consequence of her activism resisting unwanted hydroelectric projects on Indigenous territory and the right-wing government’s neoliberal policies in the wake of the 2009 U.S.-backed coup that unleashed a human rights crisis in Honduras.