Honduran Anti-Mining Activist Juan Lopez Shot Dead

Juan Lopez, a 46-year-old member of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods, was shot dead as he left church in the northeastern town of Tocoa. The murder is seen as a possible act of retaliation, as three other members of the group were killed last year. Honduran President Xiomara Castro condemned the murder, calling it "vile". Lopez had been an outspoken critic of open-pit iron ore mining in a forest reserve and had recently called for the resignation of Libre officials caught on video negotiating bribes with drug traffickers.