Honduras charges three people for the murder of environmentalist Juan López
Almost a year after Juan López was killed, a court in the Central American country formally charged the three alleged perpetrators, marking progress in the investigation.
Environmentalist Juan López who was assassinated on September 14, 2024. Photo: File
On September 14, 2024, Honduran environmentalist Juan López was killed in Tocoa while in his vehicle. Prior to his murder, he had received several threats, prompting the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to request special protection on his behalf in 2023. Despite these protective measures, several assassins took his life after he left a church. In the aftermath, President Xiomara Castro and Pope Francis condemned the attack.
López was a prominent environmental activist. In the months before his death, he had openly opposed open-pit mining and hydroelectric projects in northern Honduras. He also served as a councilman for Tocoa on behalf of the Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre), and was part of the Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCP), which had taken actions against mining companies.
Investigations into his death continued amid complaints and claims by López’s relatives and colleagues about the lack of progress. On September 2, 2025, a specialized court brought those allegedly involved in the murder to trial. Óscar Guardado, Daniel Juárez, and Lenin Cruz were charged with the killing of the environmental activist. In addition, they have been charged with criminal association, according to the judiciary.
The CMDBCP said in a statement regarding the trial for López’s murder: “The case file will be transferred to the sentencing court with territorial jurisdiction in Tegucigalpa for the next stage of the trial. Every member of the criminal network behind the murder of Juan López must be brought to justice! We demand justice now!”
For its part, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed the importance of finding out who is behind López’s murder: “Only through prompt, thorough, impartial, and diligent investigations, and the punishment of all those responsible, can the right to truth and justice for Juan López, the victims, and the affected communities be guaranteed.”
In addition, the UN office took advantage of the Honduran court’s decision to demand an investigation into human rights violations against several communities living in the Carlos Escaleras Mejía Botaderos Mountain National Park, where López acted as a defender.
Latin America is the deadliest region for environmental defenders and organizations seeking to protect nature from mining, oil, and other projects usually carried out by foreign companies.
In March 2016, renowned environmental activist Berta Cáceres was murdered in Honduras. To date, eight people have been prosecuted for Cáceres’ murder, two of whom were executives of Desarrollos Energéticos S.A., a company that sought to build a hydroelectric dam on Lenca territory.
According to the NGO Global Witness, during 2023, 18 environmental leaders were murdered in Honduras, making it the third most dangerous country for environmentalists, behind only Brazil (25) and Colombia (79).
