Central America
Honduran hydroelectric executive jailed for environmentalist murder
AFP
A senior executive of a hydroelectric dam in Honduras was handed a prison sentence of more than 22 years on Monday for his role in the 2016 murder of renowned environmentalist Berta Caceres.
A judge last July had ruled that Roberto David Castillo, a former member of the armed forces who graduated from the West Point military academy in New York, was the “co-perpetrator of the crime of murder.”
The victim, Berta Caceres, was a fervent opponent of Desarrollos Energeticos S.A. (DESA), which had developed a project in Indigenous territories in Honduras.
Castillo was the executive president of DESA, and evidence presented against him — including phone recordings — showed that he “participated directly” in the crime, according to a statement from the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) announcing his sentence of 22 years and 6 months in prison.
Castillo’s defense has 20 days to appeal the ruling.
During the trial, the court heard that Caceres was killed due to her opposition to DESA’s building of a hydroelectric plant on the Gualcarque river.
She was the coordinator of the COPINH group of Indigenous organizations and in 2015 won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.
Less than a year later, on March 2, 2016, she was shot and killed by men who entered her home in the western village of La Esperanza.
In 2018, two DESA officials and a former military officer were sentenced to 30 years in prison as “co-perpetrators” to Caceres’s murder.
The four hitmen each received 50 years.
Caceres’s family and the COPINH leadership want more people punished, though, including the partners in DESA, made up of influential banking families.
“This is not easy but we are continuing the fight, collecting evidence to be able to bring them to trial because they are already people of economic and political power,” Roberto Caceres, the brother of the murdered environmentalist, told AFP.
Central America
Nicaragua’s Ortega and Murillo Mourn Pope Francis, Acknowledge ‘Difficult’ Relationship
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, who also serve as co-leaders of the country, expressed their condolences on Monday following the death of Pope Francis, acknowledging that their relationship with the late pontiff had been “difficult” and “troubled.” Nicaragua officially suspended diplomatic ties with the Vatican during his papacy.
“Our relationship, as Nicaraguans who are believers, devoted and faithful to the doctrine of Christ Jesus, was difficult and troubled—unfortunately shaped by adverse and painful circumstances that were not always understood,” Ortega and Murillo wrote in a message of condolence.
“Despite the complexity and hardships, despite the manipulation we all know occurred, despite everything, we kept our hope alive through Christian faith,” they continued. “We understood the distance, and above all, the complicated and strained communication that prevented better relations. We also recognized the confusion caused by strident voices that disrupted any attempt at genuine interaction.”
Pope Francis had previously compared the Ortega regime to communist dictatorships and even to Hitler, a remark that further strained relations between Managua and the Holy See.
Central America
Cardinal Rodríguez to Attend Funeral of Pope Francis: “He Was Very Dear to Me”
Honduran Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez announced on Monday that he will attend the funeral services of Pope Francis, who passed away at the age of 88 at his residence in Casa Santa Marta due to a stroke.
“We will be there throughout the novena and then, God willing, at the burial,” Rodríguez said in a phone interview with HRN Radio in Tegucigalpa, apparently calling from Spain.
He added that the last time he saw Pope Francis was in October 2024, during and at the end of that year’s synod, and that they remained in contact through email. “Sometimes, the Pope would even call me,” said Rodríguez, who was born on December 29, 1942, and was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II on February 21, 2001.
Rodríguez expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Pope Francis, saying: “He was a very dear person to me.”
However, he also shared a message of hope, pointing out that the Holy Father passed away during Easter: “This is a sign. He gave his life completely like the Lord Jesus, and though he died, we believe in faith that he has risen, now with Christ in eternal life.”
Rodríguez, who for ten years coordinated the Vatican’s Council of Cardinals, was one of the eight cardinals selected by Pope Francis to help govern the Catholic Church and reform the Roman Curia.
In January 2023, upon turning 80, Rodríguez stepped down as Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, and Pope Francis appointed Spanish priest José Vicente Nácher Tatay as his successor.
Central America
Senator Van Hollen Meets with Deported MS-13 Member in El Salvador; Trump and Bukele React
U.S. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, representing the state of Maryland, held a meeting in El Salvador with deported MS-13 gang member Kilmar Ábrego García, a member of the criminal group classified by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.
“Kilmar Ábrego García, miraculously resurrected from the ‘extermination camps’ and ‘torture chambers,’ now sipping margaritas with Senator Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” wrote President Nayib Bukeleon X (formerly Twitter), sharing photos of Van Hollen, Ábrego García, and a lawyer sitting together at a Salvadoran hotel.
The deported gang member is seen wearing a plaid shirt and a flat-brimmed cap, seated at a table with glasses and coffee cups. The senator also shared images of the meeting on his own social media accounts.
Bukele reaffirmed that Ábrego will remain in El Salvador and will not be returned to the United States.
“Now that his health has been confirmed, he has earned the honor of remaining under the custody of El Salvador,” Bukele added.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the senator’s meeting with Ábrego on Truth Social, calling Van Hollen “a fool” for advocating for Ábrego’s return to the U.S.
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