Related Stories
Berta Cceres court papers show murder suspects' links to US-trained elite troops
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
Posted: March 6th, 2017
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/28/berta-caceres-...
Leaked court documents raise concerns that the murder of the Honduran environmentalist Berta Cceres was an extrajudicial killing planned by military intelligence specialists linked to the countrys UStrained special forces. Cceres was shot dead a year ago while supposedly under state protection after receiving death threats over her opposition to a hydroelectric dam. The murder of Cceres, winner of the prestigious Goldman environmental prize in 2015, prompted international outcry and calls for the US to revoke military aid to Honduras, a key ally in its war on drugs. Eight men have been arrested in connection with the murder, including one serving and two retired military officers. Officials have denied state involvement in the activists murder, and downplayed the arrest of the serving officer Maj Mariano Daz. But ... Daz, a decorated special forces veteran, was appointed chief of army intelligence in 2015. Another suspect, Lt Douglas Giovanny Bustillo joined the military on the same day as Daz. Daz and Bustillo both received military training in the US. A third suspect, Sgt Henry Javier Hernndez, was a former special forces sniper, who had worked under the direct command of Daz. Last year, the Guardian reported that a former Honduran soldier said he had seen Cceress name on a hitlist that was passed to US-trained units. Sgt Rodrigo Cruz said that two elite units were given lists featuring the names and photographs of activists and ordered to eliminate each target.
Note: The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas, reportedly graduated more than 500 human rights abusers. The identities of many other US-trained troops operating in other countries remain hidden by US courts. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing military corruption news articles from reliable major media sources.