Who Will Defend the Defenders?

Details: Published on Tuesday, 07 March 2017 14:00; Written by editor

© Pablo Aneli/AP
On January 15, Isidro Baldenegro, a prominent environmental leader, was shot and killed in his home state of Chihuahua, Mexico. His death was a brutal reminder of the dangers faced by environmental defenders in Latin America—just one year earlier, Berta Cáceres was apparently murdered in Honduras for protesting development of indigenous lands. In a region with the highest homicide rates in the world, those who risk their lives defending the environment are particularly prone to violence—of the 185 environmental advocates who were killed worldwide in 2015, 122 were working in Latin America.

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