Executive Accused in Honduran Activist’s Killing Has a Different Story

(Bloomberg) -- In 2018, on the second anniversary of Berta Cáceres’ murder, David Castillo was standing at a gate at an airport in Honduras, getting ready to fly to Houston to see his wife and kids. But when they checked his ticket and passport, the attendants wouldn’t let him board.

“They told me, ‘Listen, Mr. Castillo, you’re not going to be able to travel today,’” Castillo remembers.

That’s because he was about to be placed under arrest, accused of planning the murder of Cáceres, the environmental activist who led protests against a hydroelectric project by his company, Desarrollos Energéticos, or DESA.

Castillo, an executive at DESA, has been in prison ever since, awaiting trial.

“I did not order this,” Castillo says. “I did not participate in the murder of Berta Cáceres. There is no evidence whatsoever that could link me to the killing of Berta.” 

From the day Cáceres was murdered, DESA had been alleged by many associated with Berta to be a likely culprit. But Castillo says the assumption that he and Berta were natural enemies couldn’t be more wrong. They weren’t antagonists, he says; instead, they were close friends—right up until the day she was shot to death in her home.

Castillo’s version of events stands in stark contrast to that of Berta’s family, her colleagues and the prosecutors targeting him. His defense will shape the course of the homicide case as it continues to work its way through the courts.

“It’s horrible what happened to Berta,” Castillo says. “But I have also been a victim. I continue to be a victim because when all these lies are published and said, and how they frame things, they make me look bad.” 

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