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The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, or COPINH, said on Tuesday that its leader has suffered his second assassination attempt, just seven months after the murder of his predecessor Berta Caceres.
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Tomas Gomez Membreño was intercepted late Sunday by a gunman who fired several shots at him as he was driving his vehicle in the city of La Esperanza. No one was hurt however.
Meanwhile, the house of Alexander Garcia, a COPINH community leader, was attacked early Monday by gunmen while he was inside with his family. No fatalities were reported.
In an official statement, the environmental and Indigenous organization COPINH condemned the attacks against its members, calling it a continuation of intimidation against those who defend the Indigenous Lenca people and their territories from the interests of transnational corporations in alliance with the government.
“These are attempts to silence COPINH’s fight against the projects of death in the Lenca territories, boosted by this corrupt government, which kneels at the national and transnational economic interests,” the organization said.
COPINH was founded by Berta Caceres, a 45-year-old mother of four who gained prominence for leading the struggle against the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam project that would have flooded a massive region of native lands and cut off water supplies to her people, the Lencas.
Berta was shot dead in her home in March. Before her murder, she had reported 33 death threats.
“Seven months after the murder of our colleague Berta Caceres, there are still death threats against us, who oppose the death construction projects … against those who defend the rights of the Lenca people and who want to build viable alternatives for the development of our communities and the world.”
Caceres’ family and movement members have demanded an independent probe into her murder, expressing skepticism in the local justice system. They have claimed that the Honduran company Desarrollos Energéticos, or DESA, and the Honduran government hired contract killers to murder activists like her.
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