Between Life and Death: Berta Cáceres, Decolonial Feminism, and Resistance in the Gualcarque River

Abstract

Following the 2009 military coup in Honduras, the interim government rapidly approved extractive megaprojects across the country. Rivers sacred to Indigenous communities were privatized, including the Gualcarque River in Lenca territory, where the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam was planned without the consultation or consent of the Lenca people. Berta Cáceres, an Indigenous Lenca environmental activist and co-founder of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), emerged as a leader in the resistance against the dam. Speaking out meant risking targeted violence, political retaliation, and death; staying silent meant allowing the erasure of her community’s land, autonomy and spiritual relationships. As threats intensified and other organizers were assassinated. Berta faced a critical question: how far was she willing to go to defend her people and their river?