(Mexico City) Pope Francis on Sunday condemned the killing of an environmental activist in Honduras, adding to a growing number of international voices concerned by the tragedy.
Environmentalist Juan López was gunned down earlier this month in the rural municipality of Tocoa in northern Honduras after spending years fighting mining companies to preserve the region’s rivers and forests.
“I stand in solidarity with those whose fundamental rights are violated and with those who act for the common good in response to the cries of the earth’s poor,” Pope Francis said Sunday at the end of his Angelus message at the Vatican.
The rural Caribbean region of Colón has seen a wave of environmental killings in recent years, and three activists from Mr. López’s organization were killed last year.
The religious leader joined a number of world leaders in condemning the killing.
Last week, Brian A. Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, demanded justice for Mr. López. The United Nations called on “the competent authorities to conduct an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation to identify and punish those materially and intellectually responsible for this murder.”
Honduran President Xiomara Castro called Mr. López’s death a heinous murder and vowed to respond to growing calls to investigate his killing. Latin America is the region in the world with the highest number of killings of environmental defenders, according to the nongovernmental organization Global Witness, which tracks environmental killings.
Last year, Honduras was ranked among the most dangerous countries for environmental defenders, alongside Colombia, Brazil and Mexico. These four countries, which saw 140 environmentalists killed last year, represent 71% of the total murders of environmental defenders in the world.
Environmental leaders often act as watchdogs in rural areas, becoming unwanted witnesses in places where organized crime thrives.
They also tend to challenge powerful companies and individuals who seek to profit from industries like mining and logging in remote parts of Latin America, far from the reach of the law.
Honduras gained international attention for this type of violence when environmental and indigenous leader Berta Cáceres was assassinated in 2016. That murder continues to haunt Honduras, as many details of her death remain unresolved.