![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Berta_1_web-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C801&quality=89&ssl=1\")
And so began the foray into the foreign world of publishing, one that would be complicated by a global pandemic and two devastating hurricanes. And despite their original printer in Honduras going out of business due to the pandemic, 2,000 copies of the book were printed and distributed to the Honduran people. And Padre Melo, according to \u200b\u200bLlewellyn, has hopes that the book makes it into the Honduras\u2019 school curriculum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The book is now widely available for readers in the U.S., and comes at a moment where it\u2019s incredibly timely. Part of \u200b\u200bLlewellyn\u2019s commitment to social justice in Honduras is advocating for legislation in Congress to limit the U.S. aid to Honduras that contributes to government corruption and oppression of its people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe’re not supposed to be sending security aide to a country that isn’t meeting human rights standards and isn’t following the rule of law,\u201d \u200b\u200bLlewellyn said. And when Vice President Kamala Harris in July addressed the root causes of migration from Central America, \u200b\u200bLlewellyn points out that one critical component was conveniently left out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnless we stop arming the corruption in Honduras, it’s futile and it’s misleading to say, \u2018Oh, people are fleeing violence and poverty.\u2019 But what is causing the violence and the poverty? It’s the ability of the government and the failure to hold anybody accountable for their crimes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In December 2019, seven men were found guilty and sentenced to prison for the murder of Berta. But this past July, a Honduran court also found Roberto David Castillo Mej\u00eda\u2014a 2004 graduate of West Point and former director of Desa, the project constructing the dam\u2014guilty of masterminding Berta\u2019s assaination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt’s amazing to me the fortitude and the courage of the family to go after and not just stop with those first [arrested], but to go after the people who made the order,\u201d \u200b\u200bLlewellyn said. \u201cI think every step in that direction is a victory. I just applaud [the family] and am in awe of their ability to maneuver through this and not be assassinated themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Suzanne Llewellyn stood on the hill overlooking the r\u00edo Gualcarque\u2014the same sacred Lenca river that Honduran environmentalist Berta C\u00e1ceres risked her life to protect\u2014she knew she had a story to tell. But how to tell it? Berta was assassinated in March 2016 when armed gunmen\u2014operating on the orders of the dam project that threatened […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":50679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18626],"tags":[4917,19029,508,19028],"coauthors":[18445],"class_list":["post-50677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-berta-caceres","tag-berta-saves-the-river","tag-honduras","tag-suzanne-llewellyn","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n