International Report Details How Berta Cáceres’ Murder Was Funded by International Banks and Shell Companies

Original article: Con dineros de bancos internacionales y empresas fantasmas: Informe revela cómo se gestó el asesinato de Berta Cáceres

An international report reveals that the 2016 murder of Berta Cáceres was financed with misappropriated funds from loans by the BCIE and FMO to the company DESA. Experts point to the accountability of business leaders and former military personnel, the obstruction of Honduran justice, and the impunity of a primary suspect, Daniel Atala, who remains at large.

Report Reveals How Berta Cáceres’ Murder Was Orchestrated: Funding from International Banks and Shell Companies in the Criminal Network

Ten years after the crime that shocked the world, an international report has unveiled the financial web and criminal network that planned and executed the murder of indigenous leader and human rights defender Berta Cáceres. The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI Honduras), appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), presented its final report, as detailed by Minga Ancestral, demonstrating that the homicide was financed through misappropriated funds from loans granted by international banks for the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project.

The investigation reveals that a criminal network within the company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA), the contractor for the project, systematically diverted resources from a syndicated loan. It was established that 67% of over 18.5 million dollars from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) and the Dutch bank FMO was used for purposes other than the construction of the dam. These funds financed a campaign of persecution that included illegal surveillance, hiring armed groups, paying public officials and journalists, and ultimately, the plot to murder Berta Cáceres.

The GIEI report published on Minga Ancestral directly implicates high-level executives and shareholders of DESA, who coordinated with former military officers and an intelligence agent from the Army. Although eight individuals, including the former executive director of the company, Roberto David Castillo, have been convicted, the document highlights severe omissions. It notes that Daniel Atala Midence, the prime suspect and a member of the family that owns DESA, remains a fugitive from justice, highlighting the lack of will to investigate all those responsible.

Beyond the material executors, the GIEI documented a complex and opaque corporate structure created by DESA, which included companies in Honduras and abroad (such as Evergrehen International Inc.). This network not only facilitated the diversion of funds but also allowed for simultaneous investments in drug trafficking-related projects by some of the same actors, according to findings from Chapter V of the report. The diverted money was also used to bribe officials, discredit protests from COPINH, and manipulate media coverage.

The report strongly indicates the systematic obstruction of justice by Honduran authorities. The GIEI documented the initiation of a «false narrative» intended to mislead the investigation, the criminalization of the victim’s environment, the planting of evidence by police, and the harassment of witnesses and honest officials. These actions, described in Chapter IV, obstructed the full elucidation of the facts and accountability of the main intellectual authors for years.

In light of these findings, the GIEI and the IACHR urgently call on the State of Honduras to transform recommendations into concrete actions. This includes investigating and sanctioning all those responsible — including financial entities — revoking the concession of the Agua Zarca project in Lenca territory, and establishing a comprehensive reparations plan for the Cáceres family, COPINH, and the community of Río Blanco. The IACHR reiterated that it will follow this case through all mechanisms of the Inter-American Human Rights System.

See below for the final report with access to PDF

Report on the Murder of Human Rights Defender Berta Cáceres, Related Crimes, and Comprehensive Reparations Measures