Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Killings and repression of defenders · Honduras · 2013–2026

Berta Cáceres killing and Agua Zarca dam

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • 1 people died.
    Berta Cáceres, killed at home in La Esperanza.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured · 4 disputed · 3 unclear See the gaps

Berta Cáceres, a Lenca leader who opposed the Agua Zarca dam in Honduras, was killed in March 2016. Seven men and the dam company's former president were later convicted, and the Dutch and Finnish financiers left the project in 2017.

About 5 years estimateTime from the killing to the conviction of a DESA executive as co-author
Estimate, from the dates in the record: killed March 2016; Roberto David Castillo convicted 5 July 2021.

Status As of March 2026: Castillo's 22-year-6-month sentence stood after the Supreme Court's November 2024 ruling; DESA's finance executive, subject of a December 2021 arrest warrant, was described as a fugitive; independent experts said in January 2026 that not all masterminds had been tried.

What?
Berta Cáceres, a Lenca leader who opposed the Agua Zarca dam, was killed in March 2016; DESA's president and others were convicted. Al Jazeera
Where?
The Gualcarque River and La Esperanza, Honduras.
When?
Killing on 2–3 March 2016; convictions 2018–2022; Supreme Court ruling November 2024. TuNota
Who?
Gained
  • DESA — Held a 50-year concession for the dam, running to about 2059; its president was convicted as co-author of the killing. PBI Canada
  • Inversiones Las Jacarandas (Atala Zablah family company) — One of DESA's two main shareholders, according to the OCCRP-linked note. OCCRP
Lost
  • Berta Cáceres and her family — Cáceres was killed at her home in March 2016. Al Jazeera
Harmed
  • The Lenca community on the Gualcarque River — The dam was planned on Lenca land; Cáceres led the opposition.
Why?
Cáceres had opposed the dam; DESA's president was convicted as a co-author of her killing. Al Jazeera
How?
Seven men, including DESA employees and former military personnel, were convicted in 2018–2019; DESA's president was convicted in 2021 as a co-author.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Berta Cáceres, a leader of the Lenca people, was killed at her home in La Esperanza, Honduras, on 2 or 3 March 2016 (the sources give 2 March or 2–3 March). She had opposed the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River, developed by the company DESA on Lenca land.

The dam, described in one summary as a 21.3 MW run-of-river plant, was financed by the Dutch development bank FMO, the Finnish development fund Finnfund and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), which together pledged $44 million. CABEI's loan was the largest, at about $24 million. Cáceres asked FMO in 2013 to stop financing the project; the loan went ahead.

Seven men, including DESA employees and former military personnel, were convicted in 2018–2019. DESA's president, Roberto David Castillo, was convicted as a co-author on 5 July 2021 and sentenced on 20 June 2022 to 22 years and 6 months. The criminal chamber of the Supreme Court rejected his cassation appeal around 26–27 November 2024. Reports conflict on whether one sentence was reduced in that ruling. An arrest warrant for DESA finance executive Daniel Atala Midence was issued in December 2021; he was described as a fugitive.

FMO suspended all its activities in Honduras in March 2016. On 6 July 2017 FMO and Finnfund agreed an exit from the project with DESA, saying it was meant to 'reduce tensions'; DESA denied that the withdrawals were linked to the killing. Construction stopped and was on indefinite hold as of 2019. DESA's 50-year concession runs to about 2059.

A report by independent experts in January 2026, as summarised by FIDH in March 2026, described the killing as an organised operation involving institutional, financial and state responsibilities, and said not all those who ordered it had been tried. Cáceres's family says other masterminds remain unpunished.

  1. 2013Cáceres asks FMO to stop financing the dam; the loan proceeds
  2. 20162–3 Mar: Cáceres killed at home; March: FMO suspends all activities in Honduras
  3. 20176 Jul: FMO and Finnfund agree an exit with DESA, saying it was meant to 'reduce tensions'
  4. 2019Seven men convicted in 2018–2019; construction on indefinite hold as of 2019
  5. 20215 Jul: DESA president Roberto David Castillo convicted as co-author; Dec: arrest warrant for DESA finance executive Daniel Atala Midence
  6. 202220 Jun: Castillo sentenced to 22 years 6 months
  7. 2024Late Nov: Supreme Court criminal chamber rejects Castillo's cassation appeal; reports conflict on a reduction for one other sentence
  8. 2026Jan: independent experts' report; 3 Mar: FIDH summary says not all masterminds were tried

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“reduce tensions”

FMO and Finnfund, describing their exit from the Agua Zarca project · 6 July 2017 · SOMO

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Was the financiers' exit from Agua Zarca connected to the killing?
Company or project
FMO and Finnfund

Agreed an exit with DESA on 6 July 2017, saying it was meant to 'reduce tensions'.

SOMO
Company or project
DESA

Denied that the withdrawals were linked to the murder.

Have all those responsible for the killing been brought to justice?
Courts
Honduran courts

Convicted seven men in 2018–2019 and DESA president Roberto David Castillo as co-author in 2021; the Supreme Court's criminal chamber rejected his cassation appeal in November 2024.

TuNota
Communities and civil society
Cáceres's family

Other masterminds remain unpunished.

Researchers
Independent experts (January 2026), as summarised by FIDH

The killing was an organised operation involving institutional, financial and state responsibilities, and not all those who ordered it had been tried.

FIDH
Company or project
Atala family (DESA shareholders)

Did not comment; no charges against the family are recorded.

OCCRP

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • A FAQ document describing the Agua Zarca project.
    FMO · FMO

Recorded

  • Seven men were convicted in 2018–2019, including DESA employees and former military personnel.
  • DESA president Roberto David Castillo was convicted as co-author on 5 July 2021 and sentenced on 20 June 2022 to 22 years 6 months.
    Al Jazeera
  • The Supreme Court's criminal chamber rejected Castillo's cassation appeal and upheld the convictions around 26–27 November 2024.
    TuNota
  • Reports conflict on whether one sentence was reduced in the November 2024 ruling.
    Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
  • An arrest warrant for DESA finance executive Daniel Atala Midence was issued in December 2021; he is described as a fugitive. No other Atala family member had been prosecuted.
    Ökumenisches Büro für Frieden und Gerechtigkeit
  • FMO suspended all activities in Honduras in March 2016.
    BankTrack
  • FMO and Finnfund agreed an exit with DESA on 6 July 2017.
    SOMO
  • Construction was on indefinite hold as of 2019; DESA's 50-year concession runs to about 2059.
    PBI Canada
  • OCCRP reviewed CABEI's role in funding the dam; its note records loans of up to $24.4 million and that one of DESA's two main shareholders was a company of the Atala Zablah family, whose member José Eduardo Atala Zablah had been CABEI's director for Honduras.
    OCCRP
  • Independent experts reported in January 2026 that the killing was an organised operation involving institutional, financial and state responsibilities, and that not all those who ordered it had been tried.
    FIDH

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

—
No nature-side amount is recorded for this case.
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

$44m
Financing pledged to the project by FMO, Finnfund and CABEI (combined)$44m
A commitment, not a payment to any party. CABEI's loan was the largest, at about $24M.
Reached the ground
—
Gained elsewhere
$44m
Currency: USD · Window: 2016. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • DESA (Around the 2017 exit): Denied that FMO's and Finnfund's withdrawals were linked to the killing.
  • FMO (2016–2017): Suspended all activities in Honduras in March 2016 and agreed an exit from the project with DESA on 6 July 2017. · BankTrack
  • Finnfund (6 July 2017): Agreed an exit with DESA together with FMO on 6 July 2017, saying it was meant to 'reduce tensions'. · SOMO
  • CABEI (Undated in the sources reviewed): Its departing president was reported to have called the loan a shame (paraphrase from a Turkish-language research note; original wording not on record). · OCCRP
  • Atala family (shareholders in DESA) (Undated in the sources reviewed): Did not comment, according to the research note. · OCCRP

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2018–2019Claimant won
    Prosecution of seven men for the killing of Berta Cáceres
    Honduran criminal courts · Criminal · State (prosecution) → Seven men, including DESA employees and former military personnel

    Seven men were convicted in 2018–2019. the sources reviewed does not give the sentences.

  2. 2021-07-05 (verdict); 2022-06-20 (sentence)Claimant won
    State v. Roberto David Castillo (DESA president)
    Honduran criminal court (not named in the sources reviewed) · Criminal · State (prosecution) → Roberto David Castillo, DESA president

    Castillo was convicted as a co-author of the killing on 5 July 2021 and sentenced on 20 June 2022 to 22 years and 6 months. Al Jazeera

  3. 2024-11Dismissed
    Castillo cassation appeal
    Supreme Court of Honduras, criminal chamber · Appeal · Roberto David Castillo (appellant) → State

    The criminal chamber rejected Castillo's cassation appeal and upheld the convictions around 26–27 November 2024. Reports conflict on whether one sentence was reduced in the ruling. TuNota

  4. 2021-12–Ongoing
    Arrest warrant for Daniel Atala Midence
    Honduran criminal court (issuing court not named in the sources reviewed) · Criminal · State (prosecution) → Daniel Atala Midence, DESA finance executive (subject of an arrest warrant; not tried)

    An arrest warrant was issued in December 2021. He is described as a fugitive. No other Atala family member had been prosecuted. Ökumenisches Büro für Frieden und Gerechtigkeit

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Dam status
On hold
Construction on indefinite hold as of 2019; the concession runs to about 2059
Financiers
Exited 2017
FMO and Finnfund left by agreement with DESA, citing the aim to 'reduce tensions'
Convictions
Seven men; DESA's president
Seven men in 2018–2019; Castillo in 2021, sentenced to 22 years 6 months

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court ruling existsDeaths reported

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Figures

  • Insufficient Capacity mw: Search-summary only: licensed capacity after a 2013 amendment (reportedly raised from 14.458 MW).

Accounts

  • Disputed Was the financiers' exit from Agua Zarca connected to the killing?
  • Disputed Have all those responsible for the killing been brought to justice?
  • None on record Atala family (DESA shareholders): Did not comment; no charges against the family are recorded.

Record

  • Disputed Reports conflict on whether one sentence was reduced in the November 2024 Supreme Court ruling.
  • Disputed The dam's capacity is given differently: 21.3 MW in one summary and, reported only and not independently verified, a contracted 14.458 MW raised to 21.7 MW by a 2013 environmental licence amendment approved by a deputy minister of the natural resources ministry, who was reportedly ordered tried for abuse of office in 2016. The outcome of that case is not recorded.
  • None on record No investigation or charge against the Atala family over its role in DESA is recorded; the outcome of a case against sixteen public officials over the project permits is not recorded.
  • Unclear Whether the remaining masterminds will be prosecuted is open: the family and the independent experts say not all were tried.
  • Unclear Whether Agua Zarca ever applied for registration under the Clean Development Mechanism is not confirmed.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Voith/Siemens turbine supply was suspended in 2016.
  • Unclear Whether the concession was formally cancelled after 2019 is not recorded.

Did the harm stop?

FMO suspended its activities in March 2016 and, with Finnfund, exited the project on 6 July 2017. Construction stopped and was on indefinite hold as of 2019; the concession runs to about 2059.

Who paid?

Berta Cáceres, killed at her home in March 2016. The sources reviewed record individual criminal convictions; they record no company penalty or compensation.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Company or project

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

  2. Honduras: Urteile im Mordfall Berta Cáceres rechtskräftig
    Ökumenisches Büro für Frieden und Gerechtigkeit · n.d.

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Similar cases
Killings and repression of defenders · Protected area / relocation · Honduras · 2024–2026
Juan López killing and Guapinol mine
Same type: Killings and repression of defendersSame countryCourt: ongoing
Data centre · Water use · Uruguay · 2023–2024
Google data centre, Canelones (Uruguay)
Same type: Water useSame regionCourt: won by claimant
Killings and repression of defenders · Protected area / relocation · Brazil · 2019
Paulo Paulino Guajajara killing (Brazil)
Same type: Killings and repression of defendersSame regionCourt: ongoing
Killings and repression of defenders · Protected area / relocation · Brazil · 2022–2026
Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips killing (Brazil)
Same type: Killings and repression of defendersSame regionCourt: ongoing
Killings and repression of defenders · Peru · 2014–2026
Saweto killings
Same type: Killings and repression of defendersSame regionCourt: lost by claimant, won by claimant
Mining · Water use · Chile · 2019–2026
Salar de Atacama lithium extraction
Same type: Water useSame regionCourt: won by claimant