Honduran anti-mining activist who fought to save forests, rivers is killed

NEWS WIRES

15 September 2024 at 2:31 pm·1-min read

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.

An anti-mining activist was shot and killed in Honduras, President Xiomara Castro said, vowing justice for the latest such murder in one of the world's most dangerous countries for environmentalists.

Juan Lopez, 46, was gunned down as he left church Saturday in the northeastern town of Tocoa, his widow Thelma Pena told AFP.

Castro condemned the "vile murder" in a post on the social media platform X late Saturday and said she had ordered an investigation.

"Justice for Juan Lopez," Castro wrote.

Lopez, who belonged to the ruling Libre party, campaigned against open-pit iron ore mining in a forest reserve in the vicinity of Tocoa, where he worked in the town hall.

At a recent news conference he called for the resignation of Libre officials caught on a video negotiating bribes with drug traffickers in 2013.

That video recently ensnared Carlos Zelaya, a brother-in-law of the president. He resigned his seat in congress after admitting he took part in that meeting with drug gangsters.

"If you start defending common interests in this country," he said, "you clash with major interests."

Mejia accused authorities of failing to "fulfill their obligation" to protect Lopez.

People
Houston Father Bound, Suffocated and Raped His 8-Month-Old Daughter: 'Worst Kind of Evil'
Luis Luna, 27, was convicted of capital murder in the August 2020 suffocation death of his 8-month-old daughter, Savayah Mason
PA Media: UK News
Man who pushed stranger onto Tube tracks jailed for life for attempted murder
A judge said the attack would ‘strike fear into every traveller on the Underground’.
Wales Online
Roofers dump huge pile of rubbish outside man's front door
'I want to get that lot cleared – it's driving me around the twist'
Manchester Evening News
It started with a knock at the door... then the horror was finally revealed
The woman didn't want to report what had happened to her - but police changed her mind
The Independent
Toddler found dead in a pushchair in a bathroom had suffered ‘cruel’ abuse
Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell is accused of allowing her boyfriend Scott Jeff to abuse her daughter
Wales Online
Man punched and kicked two women before removing victim's trousers
The two women were cornered in the stairwell of a block of flats
People
Husband Accused of Strangling Jessica Barnes Had Secret Child, Sexual Relationships with Couple’s Roommates: Police
Jessica Barnes' remains were found last month, and subsequently, her husband Brandon Barnes and their roommates Kendall Mims and Victoria Tippett were arrested
The Independent
A father fled with three children into the wilderness. They’ve now been spotted three years later wearing camo
Family described by witness as ‘well prepared for the wilderness’
People
Boy Called Police Saying Little Brother Had Been Dead in Home for a Year. Now, His Mother Is Going to Prison
Gloria Williams pleaded guilty last week to two charges connected with her son's murder
Bournemouth Echo UK
Shop assistant punched in the neck and face by customer
A SHOPWORKER was punched in the face and neck several times in Bournemouth.
Evening Standard
Prisoner ‘beheads’ another inmate at jail in France using broken piece of porcelain in brutal attack
Prisoner ‘decapitated’ fellow inmate after row at Baumettes prison in Marseille
Daily Echo
Hampshire man ordered to pay £4,000 after fly-tipping 'distinctive' bags
A Hampshire man has been ordered to pay £4,000 following a witness account of him fly-tipping.
Salisbury Journal
British soldiers sold nearly £100,000 in cocaine, court hears
A cocaine dealing ring of British soldiers sold almost £100,000 of drugs to fellow military personnel and spent the proceeds on a Rolex watch and Christian Louboutin shoes, a court martial heard.
Evening Standard
Failed asylum seeker who tried to murder postman in horror Tube push jailed for life
Brwa Shorsh tried to kill a postman on the Tube, in an act that would ‘strike fear into every London Underground traveller’
PA Media: UK News
Jury ‘irretrievably compromised’ in trial of girl accused of attempted murder
The jury has been discharged in the trial of a 14-year-old girl who stabbed two teachers and a pupil at a school in Ammanford, South Wales.
People
A Passerby Thought He'd Found 2 Mannequins. It Turned Out to Be Slain 7-Year-Old and Her Mother
Kirkland Warren, 28, previously pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated murder and second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Meshay Melendez, 27, and her daughter, Layla Stewart, 7
Wales Online
Man led armed gang attack on house when he should have been in prison
William Joyce was given a four-day temporary release from prison but didn't go back, and was unlawfully at large for almost two years
Yahoo News UK
Man threatened with court action over train journey with 'anytime' rail ticket
Sam Williamson was told by Northern Rail he could be taken to court over a £1.90 discount on a train ticket.
The Independent
Two boys ‘murdered in revenge attack’ over brick thrown at home in case of mistaken identity, jury told
Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, were stabbed in a case of mistaken identity after they were wrongly blamed for an earlier attack on a property, a court heard
The Guardian
Firebombings of Victorian tobacco shops surpass 100 as police detail meeting that sparked war
Police believe an attempt was made by crime figures to control market before ‘friction’ led to arson attacks

Latest stories