BY Ximena Alfaro and Gustavo Arias / gustavo.arias@nacion.com - Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 12:12 p.m.

The environmental Berta Caceres was killed Thursday in Honduras. Police say it was a robbery, but her family are clear that the reasons point to another direction.
Caceres, coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (Copinh) and Goldman Prize winner, led the fight against the construction of the hydroelectric dam Agua Zarca in the Gualcarque river, department of Santa Barbara, northwest of Honduras.
The project, which initially had funding from the World Bank and the Chinese company Sinohydro, threatened to leave without water hundreds of Lenca native ethnic group to which belonged Caceres.

"We see ourselves as custodians of nature, the earth, and especially rivers. The dam Agua Zarca would have meant displacement and would have prevented the community to develop their agricultural activities. Not only the river but several kilometers privatizes radius "said the environmentalist in an interview with the BBC in April 2015.

Caceres, who had four children, received for her opposition to the project saw numerous threats and several comrades were killed.

Caceres struggle against the dam started in 2006 and had its tense moments in 2013, when the Lenca people began with roadblocks to prevent the entry of machinery to the area. This strategy was used for about a year. Three indigenous leaders were killed during the fighting"There were military presence and harassment, police, private guards, sicarios. Even the police took actions that pointed the barrels of their guns to the heads of children and the elderly," Caceres said in his interview with BBC.

Finally, the campaign led by Caceres got Sinohydro and the International Finance Corporation (of the World Bank) to abandon the project, which is currently being held.

Honduras against environmentalists. During 2014, according to Global Witness, Honduras was the country that registered more per capita murders of environmentalists worldwide, with 12. From 2002 to 2014, 111 were killed environmentalists.

"The Honduran defenders who expose environmental problems and instruct citizens about their rights to land and food have been described as resistance fighters, guerrillas, terrorists, political opponents or criminals," explains the former Special Rapporteur of the UN on the situation of human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya in a report by Global Witness.

Most conflicts are related to hydroelectric projects and mining. By: www.archwaywild.org