IRTF News

The killing of Indigenous environmental defender Berta Cáceres on March 2, 2016 was not unique.  More than 1,000 people were killed for political reasons during the 12 years of the narco-dictatorship. The people of Honduras know that when communities organize in defense of their territories, they too often face militarization, repression, criminalization, and violence. But Berta’s assassination does remain as one of the most visible symbols of the risks borne by land and environmental defenders.  The behind-the-scenes plotting of her brutal assassination is slightly complicated but the  reasons very straight forward.  The narco-dictatorship that “opened up Honduras for business” tried to kill the organized resistance to their mega-projects (like the privatization of the Gualcarque River for foreign investors' hydro-electric project) that illegally dispossess Indigenous and campesino communities of land, water, and self-determination. 

How can we honor Berta?

For one, we can affirm the demand of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organization of Honduras (COPINH) that the intellectual authors of the assassination be brought to justice. Moreover, we can do what Berta would do. Live, organize, educate, work and struggle together. Reach out and support the too many victims of this violent, unjust and unequal global human order. Name, denounce and hold accountable the responsible actors—countries,  companies, wealthy elites, banks, investors and more. Organize, educate, work and struggle against all injustice, inequality and discrimination. Live with the knowledge that another world is indeed necessary and act as though we believe it is indeed possible.

To support IRTF’s accompaniment work with human rights and environmental defenders in Honduras, click here.

This nacla article sheds light on the Ch'orti' people's legal struggle against mining operations that contaminate their water and thus endanger their health and agricultural possibilities. 

The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns provides a coherent overview of the U.S. Foreign Aid Budget for Latin America.  Congress maintained rigorous “conditions” on aid, meaning governments must meet specific benchmarks to receive full funding. In Central America, 50% of select funds for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are withheld until the State Department certifies these nations are combating corruption and protecting journalists and activists. For Colombia, 25% of counter-narcotics funding and 20% of military financing are tied to progress in reducing coca cultivation and prosecuting human rights violations.Notably, for Mexico, human rights conditions are absent. Current restrictions focus almost exclusively on water delivery to the U.S. and the dismantling of fentanyl-trafficking cartels.

This article published in The Guaradian talks about the excruciating reality of criminalization faced by Salvadoran women who face obstetric emergencies.  

In March 2022, President Nayib Bukele – a populist who described himself as the “world’s coolest dictator” – assumed emergency powers and suspended civil rights in a move known as the “state of exception”. Framed as a temporary response to combat rampant gang violence, the crackdown has had far-reaching consequences for human rights and the justice system. Due process has been suspended, and about one in 50 adults imprisoned.

Advocates say those emergency powers have quietly expanded into hospitals, ensnaring women who suffer miscarriages, stillbirths and other obstetric emergencies. There is a new spiral of criminalization against women.

For decades, both parties have clung to family detention as a flawed solution for managing asylum-seeking families, even though better, more humane alternatives have repeatedly proven to work. With thoughtful reforms and political courage, Congress could finally replace detention with community-based programs that ensure compliance, cut costs, and uphold human dignity.

This CBS article takes a look at th testimony of whistleblower Ryan Schwank, a former career ICE employee who resigned in February 2026.

This article by Consortium News examines the Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDEs) in Honduras and how tech billionaires like Peter Thiel profit of neocolonialist enclaves, allowed to have their own government, police force, courts, laws and any taxes collected, while indigenous people that have been dependent on that very land are subjected to exploitation, persecution and displacement.  

IRTF board member Ape Bleakney is one of the artists featured here, communicating political messaging through artistic expression. Ape blendis her social advocacy and community engagement with her art. Her recent series of silkscreen posters (proceeds  donated to immigration support organizations) directly confront ICE imagery.

Support a historic shift in U.S. foreign policy. House Resolution 1056 calls for ending the Monroe Doctrine and building a “New Good Neighbor” relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean. Urge your US representative to co-sponsor this landmark resolution acknowledging two centuries of intervention and injustice. 

This article by ProPublica examines the special treatment enjoyed by convicted then pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, former President of Honduras, who was imprisoned for accepting bribes and allowing traffickers to export more than 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S.