As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton aggressively supported the coup in Honduras.<\/p>\n
Now that government has brought back death squads<\/a>:<\/p>\n Three weeks ago, Honduran activist Gaspar Sanchez spoke at a briefing on Capitol Hill, urging lawmakers to support an impartial investigation into the murder of environmental activist Berta C\u00e1ceres<\/a>. <\/p>\n C\u00e1ceres had mobilized native communities to speak out against the Agua Zarca Dam<\/a>, a hydroelectric project backed by European and Chinese corporations<\/a>, before being killed by two unknown gunmen last month. <\/p>\n Last week, back in Honduras at a protest outside the Honduran Public Ministry in Tegulcigalpa, Sanchez unfurled a banner demanding justice for C\u00e1ceres\u2019s murder. <\/p>\n When nearby soldiers saw him, they dragged him away from the crowd and brutally beat<\/a> him, stopping only after the crowd of protestors came to his defense.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u2026\u2026\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Victor Fernandez, a prominent human rights attorney and lawyer representing the C\u00e1ceres family, insisted that her assassination was carried out by either the Honduran government or by \u201cthe paramilitary structure of companies.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cHonduras is the victim of international theft due to its national resources,\u201d said Fernandez, speaking through a translator. \u201cWhat we have now is our natural resources \u2014 minerals, rivers, forest. C\u00e1ceres was killed because she was confronting the extractive model.\u201d <\/p>\n Bertha Oliva compared the current situation to the early 1980s, when the CIA funded, armed, and trained<\/a> Honduran government death squads that murdered hundreds of opposition activists.<\/span> In 2009, a coup toppled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who had long been seen as a leftist threat<\/a> to the interests of international corporations. In 2008, Zelaya blocked a series of hydroelectric dam projects, citing concerns raised by native Hondurans. Less than a year after he was deposed, the new government had already approved 40 dam contracts. When the current President Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez came to power in 2013, his slogan was \u201cHonduras is open for business.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n The coup was accompanied by a huge rise in political violence<\/a>. By 2012, state security forces had assassinated more than 300 people, and 34 members of the opposition and 13 journalists had disappeared, according to data<\/a> compiled by Honduran human rights organizations. The political assassinations added to the emboldened violence from gangs and drug traffickers, making Honduras one of the most dangerous countries in the world. In 2012, Reuters reported<\/a> that it had the highest murder rate of any country.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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