Author: Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

March 3, 2016

Dear Friends,

Beyond the borders of the United States, policies and practices dictated and influenced by our government and multi-national corporations housed in our country continue to wreak havoc on the lives of people throughout Central America.

Last summer Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity led a delegation of 16 faith leaders from across the United States on a “Root Causes Journey” to examine why tens of thousands of children, youth, women, and families are forced to flee their homes. We traveled to Guatemala and Honduras where we were received and welcomed as invited guests.

Among the people who hosted our delegation of faith leaders was Ms. Berta Caceres, a leading indigenous environmental activist. Today, we learned she was assassinated inside her home in Honduras after two gunmen broke down the door to her house, went in, shot and killed her.

Violence is one of the leading causes of migration. Often that violence is connected to enforcers of our nation’s foreign policies throughout Central America. According to our friends in Honduras, they are convinced Ms. Caceres was assassinated inside her home because she was a human rights activist.

In 2015, Berta Caceres received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. She testified before the U.S. Congress. She gave her life in support of indigenous people in Honduras who suffer under the weight of governmental corruption and blatant disregard for the environment and human persons.

This week the Reverend Deborah Lee, senior program director of Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, will return to Honduras to pay homage to Ms. Caceres and to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who depend on people of faith in the United States to speak up on their behalf.

We need your support and financial gifts to strengthen our voices and change conditions that create violence and threaten the lives of people like Berta Caceres.

Please make your donation to: Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity 5080 N. Maywood Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90041. Or, go to our Web site: www.im4humanintegrity.org

Thank you for joining Interfaith Movement and honoring the life of Berta Caceres.

Sincerely,

    Rev. Dr. Art Cribbs

    Rev. Dr. Art Cribbs

    Executive Director

A Champion for the Environment & Indigenous Rights Assassinated in Honduras

Berta Caceres at the banks of the Gualcarque River in the Rio Blanco region of western Honduras where she, COPINH (the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) and the people of Rio Blanco have maintained a two year struggle to halt construction on the Agua Zarca Hydroelectric project, that poses grave threats to local environment, river and indigenous Lenca people from the region.

Hello friends, last August we led a religious pilgrimage to Honduras and Guatemala to examine the Root Causes of Migration. One of the major concerns we heard about over and over again was US military aid to Honduras and the state violence and paramilitaries that this aid sponsors and the threats facing our friends in Honduras.

Last night- Berta Caceres, one of the leading indigenous environmental activists was assassinated in Honduras. Berta, the coordinator of COPINH was assassinated when at least two individuals broke down the door of the house where she was staying, shot and killed her. Berta was a 2015 awardee of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize last year and was hosted in SF and Congress many times. She was a symbol for the social movement in Honduras – and the defense of the land and indigenous communities.

She, COPINH and local indigenous communities had been actively working against against the construction of a hydroelectric dam by the internationally-financed Honduran company DESA in Rio Blanco where many indigenous communities have already been displaced. She and others had received numerous death threats and just two weeks ago a peaceful protest against the dam was surrounded by security forces and paramilitaries.

We are appalled at the brazenness of this attack. We are shocked and concerned as many of our religious colleagues in Honduras were very close to her. If this happens to Berta and internationally recognized indigenous leader, imagine what this means for lesser known and ordinary people.

What you can Do:

1) We would like to send a Religious Delegation as a sign of international solidarity to attend her funeral in Honduras in the next few days. Can you help us raise some funds for airfare? Click the donation link below to make a donation towards this.
If you are interested in going, please contact: Deborah Lee, dlee@im4humanintegrity.org.

2) Contact your Congresspersons and Senators: Tell them to Stop All US Military Training and Aid to Honduras.

3) Sign the Petition to Congress.

4) Join us tomorrow night- 6pm – Friday for a potluck movie about Honduras: Resistencia: The Fight for the Aguan Valley at Skyline Communty Church, 12540 Skyline Blvd, Oakland.

5) Join us Saturday 11 am – 12 pm at the West County Detention Facility, 5555 Giant Highway, Richmond – hosted by School of the Americas Watch.