Il Nuovo Postiglione - Former Honduras mayor arrested over murder of environmental activist

Juan Lopez, who was also a local lawmaker, was shot and killed on the night of September 14 as he left a church in the northeastern town of Tocoa.

He had campaigned for the closure of an iron ore strip mine in the Botaderos National Park, saying it polluted the environment.

Adan Funez, the mayor of Tocoa at the time of his death, was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly ordering Lopez's killing, along with a man accused of negotiating with hitmen on Funez's behalf.

Funez has denied the allegations.

Three other men are set to stand trial in the coming months for Lopez's actual murder.

Lopez's killing drew international condemnation from the United Nations and Pope Francis.

Days before the attack, Lopez had called on Funez to resign after the release of a 2013 video showing Funez allegedly negotiating bribes with drug traffickers.

In a 2021 interview with AFP, Lopez discussed the risks he said environmental activists face in the poverty- and violence-stricken Central American country.

"If you start defending common interests in this country, you clash with major interests," he said.

"If you leave home, you always have in mind that you do not know what might happen, if you are going to return," said Lopez.

According to the human rights group Global Witness, Honduras is one of the world's most dangerous countries for environmental activists.

T.Cusumano--INP