Suspects In Murder Of Environmental Activist Trained At Controversial U.S. Facility

Click here to access article by Whitney Webb from Mint Press News.

The Murder of environmental activists has reached unprecedented levels throughout Latin America – and nowhere is this more pronounced than in the Central American nation of Honduras. Since Honduras’ government was overthrown in 2009 in a coup backed by the Clinton-led State Department, the industry-friendly government that came to power is cracking down local activism by any means necessary.

Over 120 Honduran activists have been killed since 2010, making the small nation the world’s deadliest place to protect the environment. Berta Cáceres, one of the slain activists, was the winner of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. However, her international prestige and recognition did not prevent her from being gunned down in her own home last year.

Once again we receive news about deadly terrorist attacks on activists in "our backyard" of Honduras, this time on a noted environmentalist, and links to the notorious terrorist training school at the School of the Americas in Georgia. Terrorism is a weapon used by agents of the Empire against the people not only in Syria, but wherever the Empire's corporate and political interests can be advanced. This includes within the US.

Though the U.S. military insists that SOA/WHINSEC is dedicated to preserving human rights, the training manuals used at the facility tell a different story. In 1996, bowing to public pressure, the Pentagon reluctantly released training manuals that had been used at SOA. The manuals expressly advocated torture, extortion, blackmail, and the targeting of civilian populations.

The numerous crimes committed by SOA and WHINSEC graduates throughout Latin America are also well-documented. In Colombia alone, U.S. assistance was considered a factor in a total of 5,763 extrajudicial killings that took place in the nation from 2000 to 2010.