By Gustavo Palencia
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) – An environmental activist who protested mining and hydro-electric projects in northern Honduras in an effort to preserve tropical forests and rivers has been killed, police said on Sunday.
Juan Lopez was shot dead on Saturday night by several men as he headed home in his car from church, an official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Lopez belonged to the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods, an environmental organization in the city of Tocoa on the country’s Atlantic coast.
Three other members of the group were killed last year in what the organization saw as retaliation, in a country that is one of the world’s most dangerous for activists.
The group had suffered threats and harassment for years amid efforts to preserve the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers, and the Carlos Escaleras nature reserve, amid the growing presence of mining and hydro-electric companies.
“We demand clear and conclusive answers, this government must answer for the killing of our colleague Juan Lopez,” the group said in a post on social media.
Last October, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures in favor of 30 members of the group and their legal representatives, including Lopez. It urged the Honduras government to strengthen its protection mechanisms.
According to the commission, Lopez reported numerous threats, including from a gang member, a local businessperson, and a mining company representative. Since June, two men on motorcycles began appearing around his home, the commission said.
The United Nations resident coordinator in Honduras, Alice Shackelford, said Lopez had been threatened for his activism, and she praised his efforts to stand up to powerful interests.
“We condemn the terrible murder of Juan Lopez, a human rights defender threatened for his work,” she said in a post on social media.
Latin America accounted for 85% of the world’s environmentalists who were killed last year, according to UK advocacy group Global Witness, with 18 deaths registered in Honduras.
(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Leslie Adler)