The US and UN condemn the killing of an environmentalist in Honduras

MEXICO CITY — The U.S. State Department and other global leaders on Tuesday denounced the slaying of another environmental leader in rural Honduras, adding to mounting concern of ongoing violence against environmentalists in Latin America. Honduran President Xiomara Castro confirmed the killing of Juan López on Saturday in the rural Caribbean region of Colón, where a number of environmentalists battling mining projects have been killed in recent years. Justice for Juan López,” she posted on X. López was gunned down in the municipality of Tocoa after spending years combating mining companies to preserve the region’s rivers and forests, according to Human Rights Watch. His comments were followed by similar condemnations by the United Nations, which on Tuesday called on “competent authorities to carry out an immediate, exhaustive and impartial investigation to identify and punish the people responsible, both material and intellectual, for this murder.” Latin America is the deadliest region in the world to be an environmental defender, according to the nongovernmental organization Global Witness, which tracks killings of environmentalists.