On September 14, PBI-Honduras posted on social media:
“Today we join the thousands of voices from all corners of Honduras and the world calling for justice not only for Juan López but also for the forests and rivers he defended. Juan’s legacy lives on stronger than ever.”
Social media photos: “On the 365th day since the crime, the National Commission for Integral Ecology, grassroots communities, and the Catholic congregation held the Pilgrimage of Hope and Justice in his memory.”
On that day, Criterio.hn reported: “The socio-environmental defender and councillor of Tocoa, Juan Antonio López, was murdered a year ago and those who financed the crime continue to enjoy impunity. Ironically, the mining project that López denounced so much continues to apply for mining concession permits and environmental licenses, without the authorities putting a stop to the illegal project.”
That article quotes Christopher Castillo of the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras (ARCAH) who says: “Juan was a person who was constantly in communication with us, because his bet was precisely to permanently articulate with the peoples, he had a great function of bringing together. His voice was highly respected. …Apart from being an honest person, he was a supportive person, because solidarity is sharing information, sharing thought, sharing analysis.”
The article also quotes Edy Tábora, a lawyer of the Justice for the Peoples Law Firm, who says: “We believe that at the level of evidence, there are sufficient elements so that a conviction against the material authors can be guaranteed in trial.” Tabora says the intellectual authors of the crime must also be held accountable.
Social media photo: “One year has passed since the murder of environmentalist Juan López; the Catholic Church and various organizations ask the prosecutor to capture the intellectual authors.”
Graciela Martínez and Adeline Neau in Amnesty International’s Central America team further explain in El Pais: “The alleged perpetrator of the shooting and two alleged accomplices, already formally charged, are in pretrial detention awaiting trial. However, those who may have ordered his murder have not yet been held accountable.”
Last month, Contra Corriente reported: “Six months [after the murder of Juan Lopez], the media outlet Infobae published that Adán Fúnez was pointed out as the mastermind of the crime, bringing to light that they had seized a video from a security camera in which the mayor could be seen talking with one of the hitmen hours before killing Juan. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has refused to give information about its investigations. Mayor Adán Fúnez is still not wanted and has not been expelled from the Libre Party, as is Carlos Zelaya, brother-in-law of the president of Honduras.”
Accompaniment
In their “Roots of Resistance” report released this week, Global Witness documents that five defenders were killed and one person was disappeared in Honduras in 2024. They further note: “One of the killings was of renowned anti-mining activist, Juan López, who was working to protect the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers which serve water to hundreds of people.”
Amnesty International has also explained: “Juan López was the coordinator of the CMDBCPT, an organization comprised by dozens of communities, religious groups and local environmental organisations from the municipality of Tocoa who since 2015 have been peacefully challenging the legality of the iron mining concessions granted to Inversiones Los Pinares (ILP), arguing that they have adversely affected the water quality of the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers, as well as the protected Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escaleras Mejía National Park.”
Peace Brigades International has accompanied Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and Guapinol River defenders since January 2019.
We continue to follow this.
Further reading: Murder of Juan López: the State ignored 25 complaints against Los Pinares and the mayor’s office of Tocoa (Criterio.hn, September 17, 2025).
Photo: PBI-Canada visited Tocoa and Guapinol on October 29-30, 2024.
