Murdered environmentalist Berta Caceres laid to rest in Honduras

A large crowd in Honduras accompanied the body of Berta Caceres to its final resting place amid calls for justice over the killing of the indigenous leader and environmental activist.

Many of those carrying her coffin on their shoulders through the dusty streets of La Esperanza were Lenca indigenous people for whose rights she had fought.

Drummers pounded out Afro-Honduran rhythms as mourners chanted “The struggle goes on and on” and “Berta Caceres is present, today and forever.”

Her four daughters and her ex-husband were among the procession.

“Forgive me, Bertita,” said Salvador Zuniga, Ms Caceres’ former husband. “Forgive me for not understanding your greatness.”

Ms Caceres, 45,had complained of death threats from police, the army and landowners’ groups. She was murdered early on Thursday by gunmen who broke into her home and shot her four times.

“My mother died because she defended the land and rivers of her country,” her daughter Olivia said.

Mexican human rights activist Gustavo Castro Soto was also wounded in the attack.

The authorities say two suspects have been detained for questioning.

According to the Goldman Environmental Prize, Ms Caceres “waged a grassroots campaign that successfully pressured the world’s largest dam builder to pull out of the Agua Zarca Dam”.

It said the project threatened to “cut off the supply of water, food and medicine for hundreds of Lenca people and violate their right to sustainably manage and live off their land”.