The Honduran government has arrested two suspects in connection with the murder of Catholic pastoral worker and environmentalist Juan López, whose death last month was condemned by Pope Francis and the United Nations.
Authorities reported the capture of the main suspect and an accomplice. “We’ve captured the material author of the death of environmental activist Juan López. An accomplice was also arrested,” wrote Security Minister Gustavo Sánchez on the social media platform X, without revealing their identities. “Other raids are being carried out to make another arrest,” he added.
López, a 46-year-old activist, was fatally shot September 14 after leaving Mass at a Catholic church in Tocoa, about 220 kilometers northeast of Tegucigalpa. In addition to his work as a councilman, López had been a vocal critic of the pollution caused by an open-pit iron oxide mine within a nature reserve in Honduras. As social pastoral coordinator for the Diocese of Trujillo and a founding member of the Pastoral Care for Integral Ecology, López was deeply committed to protecting the environment.
Condolences and condemnation
López’s murder has drawn widespread condemnation from figures including Pope Francis and the United Nations. “I have learned with sorrow that Juan Antonio López has been killed in Honduras. Coordinator of social pastoral care in the Diocese of Trujillo, he was a founding member of the pastoral care of integral ecology in Honduras,” Pope Francis said during his Sunday Angelus address September 22. “I join in the grief of that church and condemn every form of violence. I am close to all those whose basic rights are violated and those who work for the common good in response to the cry of the poor and the earth.”
Alice Shackelford, the UN Resident Coordinator in Honduras, praised López for his courage in standing up to powerful interests. “We condemn the terrible murder of Juan López, a human rights defender threatened for his work,” she said in a social media post.
The Honduran Catholic Bishops’ Conference also called for a thorough investigation. “We are deeply saddened,” the bishops stated, asking the faithful to pray for López, “a true disciple and missionary.” They described him as “a man committed to truth, honest and courageous, who demonstrated his faith through his actions.”
Crusader for social justice
López was known for his deep commitment to social justice, drawing strength from his Christian faith. As a member of the Ecclesial Ecological Network of Mesoamerica (REMAM), he dedicated his life to protecting natural resources for the vulnerable. This mission put him at odds with mining companies operating in Honduras. He had recently condemned the contamination of the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers, which were threatened by illegal mining and endangered local water supplies. Investigators believe this may have been the motive behind his murder.
Local media reported that his assassination came just hours after he and other community leaders accused members of Tocoa’s municipal government of ties to organized crime. López had received numerous threats, prompting the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to issue precautionary measures for his protection since 2023.
Following López’s death, Bishop Jenry Ruiz of Trujillo wrote: “You told me that you were not an environmentalist because, for you, social, ecological, and political commitment was not ideological, but an expression of your faith in Christ and the church.” He added, “You knew very well that the extractivist and mining system is one that kills and destroys, along with the corruption of false politicians and narco-governments.”
López, deeply devoted to Saint Oscar Romero, was inspired to fight for social justice and protect rural communities and natural resources, family members said.
“Not an isolated case”
López’s murder highlights the increasing repression of human rights activists in Honduras. “This crime is not an isolated case,” stated REMAM and the Laudato Sì movement in a joint statement. “He is not just another name in the statistics; he was a child of God, a close and kind brother. We honor his testimony of faith and his work for a better common home,” added Archbishop Gustavo Rodríguez Vega of Yucatán, President of REMAM.
In January 2022, another environmentalist, Pablo Isabel Hernández, was killed on his way to a religious service in Lempira. Later that same year, on March 2, Catholic priest Father José Enrique Vásquez was murdered while traveling to his parish for Ash Wednesday services in the Diocese of San Pedro Sula.
López’s death echoes the 2016 assassination of renowned Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres, in what Global Witness has labeled one of the world’s most dangerous countries for activists. Cáceres, an indigenous leader and co-founder of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her campaign that forced the world’s largest dam builder to abandon the Agua Zarca Dam project on the Río Gualcarque.
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Publish date : 2024-10-16 00:29:00
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