.@jorgeramosnews @mariaesalinas @ktumulty: Ask re: #BertaCáceres @ #Destino2016 #DemDebate

Honduras has lost one of its most courageous indigenous leaders, Berta Cáceres. Cáceres was the General Coordinator of the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras. In 2015, she won the Goldman Environmental Prize for her activism and leadership. She was assassinated on March 2.

At her memorial service on March 5, Berta's children read a statement from Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy. In his statement, Leahy said: "the investigation of this crime must be independent and comprehensive, including the participation of international experts. Those responsible for ordering and carrying it out must be brought to justice…the Rio Blanco and the territory that Berta devoted her life to defend, should be protected. The Agua Zarca dam project should be abandoned." [1]

U.S. government policy is implicated in Berta's death. The U.S. government has financed and defended the Honduran government that failed to protect Berta's life. [2] Senator Leahy has said future U.S. aid to the government of Honduras should be tied to the outcome of an independent investigation into the assassination. [3]

Urge Jorge Ramos, María Elena Salinas, and Karen Tumulty to ask Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton how U.S. government policy in Honduras should change following this crime by signing our petition.

References:
1. https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/remarks-of-senator-patrick-leahy-on-remembering-berta-caceres
2. http://www.thenation.com/article/the-clinton-backed-honduran-regime-is-picking-off-indigenous-leaders/
3. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/probe-assassination-berta-caceres