WEBVTT - Part 7: 'Berta Became Millions' 0:00:01.360 --> 0:00:03.960 It's now been four and a half years since the 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:09.399 night of March second, when Berta Cassarus was shot dead 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:12.720 in the bedroom of her house. Four and a half 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:20.680 years of frustrations, secrets, and revelations. First there was the survivor, 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.919 the witness that the assassins failed to kill in Berta's 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:29.319 guest bedroom. Then there were the false leads, allegations of 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:33.479 a cover up, and surprise raids. After all of that, 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:38.200 investigators piece together a murder plot that pointed the finger 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:43.879 at the hydro electric company that Berta had opposed. This 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:48.280 led to seven murder convictions, but a critical piece of 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:54.320 this story remains unresolved. David Castillo, the CEO of Dessa, 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:59.080 was arrested in eighteen for plotting Berta's death, and since 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:05.360 then his case has been in limbo. All the while 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:10.199 a clock has been ticking. Under Honduran law, a person 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.760 can be held in custody without going to trial for 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.039 only two and a half years, and David's time in 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:26.120 prison expires on September two. It's now late August, with 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:29.920 just two weeks to go before that day arrives, and 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:35.279 Bart's family is growing very worried. They say David's legal 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:39.559 team is trying to run out that clock. Bart's older 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:44.839 brother Gustavo, tells a Honduran television show that if David 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:48.800 goes free, the family's hopes of finding some measure of 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:58.280 justice will slip away too. We're asking the court, let's 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:01.600 go immediately with the the trial. They can try and 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:04.640 show his innocence and show that he didn't participate, and 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:09.120 show that he didn't threaten b That's fine again, they 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:12.240 can make whatever case they want, but we are prepared 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.400 to show that David Castillo is guilty after all the 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.960 evidence that's been submitted to the public Ministry and submitted 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:26.640 to the court. That same day, the Honduran Supreme Court 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:31.120 makes a startling announcement. After more than a year of 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:35.760 appeals and postponements, it decides to remove the judge who 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:40.919 had overseen the case from the beginning. Barton's family is shocked. 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:45.080 They see this change as a last minute delay at tactic, 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:48.960 something to make sure no trial could be said before 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:54.200 time runs out. They fear the Supreme Court itself is 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:59.120 sabotaging the case. The court doesn't give a reason for 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.760 the change, and both sides seem a little baffled by it, 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.160 The dismiss judge had allowed the case to drag on 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:10.480 with little action. Some of David's supporters worry the court 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:14.000 has bowed to pressure to schedule a trial no matter what. 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.600 Barrett's family fears that it's a delay tactic, something to 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:22.960 make sure no trial can be said before time runs out. 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.560 They worry that the justice system has been fixed, and 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:31.800 they plead for action. But at least, does you know 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:37.200 today the court has to demonstrate that no longer will 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.320 people be set free because of their connections or because 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.600 of the influence of powerful people in this country put 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:50.280 invage of the hint. This idea that powerful, well connected 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:54.920 people might be intervening on David's behalf has become a 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:58.880 theme throughout this case. As David has waited for a 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:04.600 trial to be set, researchers with several nonprofit organizations, as 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:08.920 well as an international anti corruption panel, have dug into 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:15.000 his COMPANYSA. They say they've unearthed a history of corruption, 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:21.320 the kind made possible by connections deep into Honduran government agencies. 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:26.320 And lawyers representing Berta's family argue that it was this 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:31.840 system of corruption that had her killed. This is another 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:35.000 reason they want David's murder case to go to trial. 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:38.800 They hope to present some of this evidence in court. 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:44.880 Victor Fernandez is a lawyer representing Berta's family. This is 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:50.800 from an August radio interview. You can see there's a 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:55.320 criminal structure that's linked to the highest levels of executive power. 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:03.040 He says, putting David on trial would be an unprecedented 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:06.640 blow against the culture of impunity that has reigned in 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:11.960 Honduras for years. Impunity that he says, originates with an 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:17.839 elite group of politically and economically powerful people. He says, 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:21.440 they want to protect David because that's how they can 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:31.000 protect themselves. It's a group economical. This group of economic 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:33.760 powers was able to be a part of this whole 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:37.600 criminal dynamic, and it started with the creation of the 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.920 Aguasaka project and extended all the way through Berta's assassination 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:45.760 and the other crimes committed along the way. So the 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:54.599 tentacles go up to this levelogy and in Sabertas supporters, 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:58.560 simply setting a trial date has become a critical test 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:02.599 of a country and of its entire system of justice. 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.440 Honduras has never tackled a murder case like this one. 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:12.640 Most homicide investigations are never closed and few result in arrests. 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.720 Maybe the gunmen might go to jail, but those who 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:21.960 might have given the orders almost never do. Berta's family 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:26.560 and their lawyers want to face David in court because 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:31.200 there they hope to expose and dismantle a way of 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:43.719 doing business that they describe as murderers. My name is 0:06:43.760 --> 0:07:18.680 montereyrel for Bloomberg Green and this is blood River in 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:24.840 hon During President Juan Orlando Hernandez faced calls for his resignation, 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:29.040 more than three hundred and fifty five million dollars had 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:33.600 been embezzled from the country's social security program, and some 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.520 of that money had ended up in the president's campaign chest. 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:43.679 Under pressure, President Hernandez agreed to let an international anti 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:47.720 corruption panel come to Honduras. It would be overseen by 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:51.600 the Organization of American States. It's sort of like the 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:56.960 United Nations for the Western Hemisphere. That anti corruption panel 0:07:57.160 --> 0:08:02.120 backed numerous investigations that uncovered dents of rampant government led 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:07.600 graft and lawlessness. One investigation charged a former First Lady 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:12.520 of Honduras with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars. She 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.600 was convicted and sentenced to fifty eight years in prison. 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:20.360 But now she's no longer in custody for the same 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:25.040 reason that Berta's family fears David could be released. This summer, 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:29.920 her conviction was annulled because of procedural problems. Her new 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:33.320 trial date hasn't yet been set, but she's already been 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:37.319 in custody longer than Honduran authorities can hold her, so 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:42.480 she's free for now. But that's not the most important 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:47.440 connection between David and that anti corruption panel. Last year 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:55.000 in Tegucigalpa, the panel's members gathered to announce some newss 0:08:55.600 --> 0:09:00.880 I think I was that is. The members of the 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:06.320 panel revealed that its most recent investigation was called Fraud 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:10.840 on the Gualcrate. It centered on Dessa and the Awa 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:16.400 Zarka dam Anna Maria Calderon, a former prosecutor from Peru, 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:19.920 said the group had looked into the business dealings behind 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:24.360 the hydro electric project and had uncovered a wide range 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:31.040 of crimes. They accused David Castillo and fifteen others, including 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:35.520 government officials, of launching a project that was rotten from 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:42.040 the very start. The alleged crimes included fraud, abuse of authority, 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:56.120 and falsification of documents. La Calderon said Dessa was founded 0:09:56.160 --> 0:10:00.280 in two thousand nine by two brothers who seemingly weren't 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:05.960 involved in the company's daily operations. At that time, David 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:10.960 Castillo was working for the Honduran government run electrical utility. 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:16.960 He wouldn't join Dessa until but the investigators said David 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:22.040 was pulling the strings at Dessa from day one. They 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:26.800 said the two brothers behind Dessa were actually low level 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:30.440 employees who worked for David at a computer company he 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:34.120 founded a couple of years earlier. They said one brother 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:39.560 had worked as a driver there. So the investigators alleged 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:43.640 that David was the de facto head of Deessa while 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:48.280 he was working for the State Electrical Utility, and this, 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:52.480 they said, was the same time when the state utility 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:56.840 signed its agreement with Dessa to purchase electricity from the 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:03.400 proposed Ahwa Zarka damn. In other words, the investigators say 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:07.520 David was playing both sides when the Awa Zarka projects 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:12.559 approvals and contracts were drawn up. They say he effectively 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:17.240 rigged the process, making sure Dessa could sell electricity to 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:23.559 the government at inflated prices. In addition to David, several 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:28.800 senior officials with the Honduran Environmental Agency faced charges. When 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:33.479 announcing the case last year, the anti corruption panel suggested 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:39.120 a comprehensive review of the electrical utilities contracts called their own. 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:43.800 Further warned that all government agreements tied to renewable energy 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:50.640 sources might have been compromised. But in early President Hernandez 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:55.960 effectively shut down the anti corruption group. The president's critics 0:11:56.400 --> 0:12:00.880 suspect that was because anti corruption investigations have not been 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:06.240 kind to the president in recent months. Last October, Tony Hernandez, 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.840 the President's brother, was put on trial in a New 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:14.560 York courtman Us prosecutors accused her Nandez of helping smuggle 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:19.520 almost tons of cocaine into the United States while enjoying 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:24.720 the protection of his brother, President Juang Orlando Hernandez. Tony 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:28.679 Hernandez was found guilty, and the President was named as 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:35.680 an indicted co conspirator. He's denied involved. Prosecutors alleged the 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:40.040 drug profits were funneled into the President's campaign, that the 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:44.240 president helped secure drug routes and the cooperation of the 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:49.800 Honduran police and its military. The court essentially ruled that 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:54.600 Honduras is a narco state. But even though the Anti 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:58.840 Corruption Panel was dissolved this year, its case against David 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:02.080 and the others didn't die. It was passed on to 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:08.160 another group of prosecutors inside Honduras. David is fighting the charges. 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.720 He says they're baseless, another attempt to smear him and 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.960 his card. Several of the former public officials named in 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:22.560 the case filed appeals for dismissal this month. Those requests 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:27.280 were denied, but it remains uncertain whether any of the 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:31.440 information from that corruption probe will actually surface in the 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:51.800 separate murder case against David. The only way that would 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:57.760 happen is if prosecutors charged David with something called illicit association. 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:01.319 This is a legal term used to describe a group 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.920 of people who have come together for one underlying reason 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:10.079 to commit crimes. Annie Bird is a Washington, d c. 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:14.400 Based human rights activist who's been investigating the awah's ark 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:19.200 A project since. She says that in this case, the 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:23.360 criminal group would be the Dessa executives, and she says 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:27.200 the crimes would include all of the violations the Anti 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:32.560 corruption Panel highlighted as the company pursued the dam essentially 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.720 they're breaking so many laws in the process of trying 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.240 to get it implemented that it's a it's a criminal enterprise. 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:44.000 She and others have been trying to convince Honduran prosecutors 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:49.520 to include illicit association charges in David's murder case. Those 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:54.160 efforts haven't worked, and she believes that's because the state 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:57.400 is afraid to go after those at the very top 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:03.880 of Dessa's corporate pyramid, its investors. From the beginning, what 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:07.280 we've seen is the tendency to protect the hires up 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:19.120 from prosecution. While David Castillo has awaited trial, Verta's family 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:24.080 and Copaine have very publicly been going after Death's investors 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:29.720 in court and out of it. The Ahwazarka project cost 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.560 about sixty four million dollars and its funding came from 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:40.200 two principal sources. First was international development banks, second was 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:45.880 a family of private investors inside Honduras. Roughly forty million 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:49.880 dollars for the project came from three different development banks. 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:55.840 They included one from Honduras, one from Finland, and one 0:15:55.920 --> 0:16:01.440 from the Netherlands named f M. O. Berta had publicly 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.920 criticized all of those banks, and she fought to get 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:09.160 them to withdraw funds from the project. She believed that 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:13.040 Dessa violated the human rights of the community members near 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:17.200 the Gualcrt River, and she thought the banks were complicit 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:21.560 by giving money to the company. Berta and others in 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:25.840 Copeine reached out to Hannah sam Caldon, a Dutch human 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:30.480 rights lawyer. They wanted to force AMO to stop their 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:36.760 involvement in the Aguasara project. Berta wasn't able to follow through, 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:41.280 but after she was murdered, her colleagues in Copeine called 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:46.760 sam Caldon again and in they filed suit against f 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.680 m O. That case alleges that the bank had ignored 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:54.840 the reports of human rights violations that bear to herself 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:59.040 had filed. The idea of the lawsuit has been to 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:05.240 establish that FAMO shouldn't have govern involved in the project 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:09.480 in the first place, and when they made the decision 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.680 to support the project and they did get involved, after all, 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:19.880 they should have properly monitored and tried to use their 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:25.159 influence to prevent further human rights violations locally. In other words, 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:30.119 they're arguing that FMO was negligent. She says, if the 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:34.800 bank had seriously investigated the complaints of human rights violations 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:38.560 by Dessa, then they certainly wouldn't have backed the project. 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:43.879 She says. The bank's negligence was a contributing factor to 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:50.640 Berta's death. It's been a particular issue. Indeed that had 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:58.240 Amo taken adequate action timely, then her death probably would 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:03.960 not have occurred. FMO denies wrongdoing. A spokesperson for the 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:07.239 bank declined to comment on the suit, but directed me 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.840 to nearly two dozen documents the bank has released related 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:14.520 to the case. These include summaries of the fact finding 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:19.120 trips where the bank sent delegations to Rio Blanco. These 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.879 were thorough reviews, the bank says, and they didn't reveal 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:27.480 a history of abuses. The Dutch bank, along with those 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.080 from Finland and Honduras, pulled out of the AWA's Arka 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:36.359 project after Barts's murder. David Castillo says FMO and the 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:40.720 other banks forgave Dessa and its shareholders all of their 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:44.560 debt to them loans from the show two the shareholders 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:48.879 and to the Osaka project. We're raised they don't have 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:53.439 to be paid back because the financial institutions behind it. 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:57.880 They know that there was no wrongdoing from the shareholders 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:04.320 maybe the banks had forgiven the shareholders, but Barton's family 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:26.800 and their lawyers have not. We met David Castillo around 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:33.320 the maybe two thousand and ten, and uh he was 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:38.480 looking for investors in his project. This is Danielle Atala. 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:42.000 He and his family own a number of businesses throughout 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:47.840 Honduras and provide financial backing for even more. As as 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:52.280 an investor group, we saw the potential in an individual 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:57.840 like David Castillo. We really liked his his curriculum, his 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.040 his profile. We thought that who is going to be 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.760 a good investment. At that moment, Danielle would become Death's 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:10.879 chief financial officer. His father, Jose Eduardo Atala Zabla, is 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:14.520 a board member and also a shareholder, as are two 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:19.359 of Danielle's uncles. In Honduras, some people like to say 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:24.320 that a small number of wealthy families really control the country. 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:27.919 It's impossible to prove, but a lot of people believe it. 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:33.080 Many of Berta's supporters think that the Atala Zablas are 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:36.600 one of those families. I met them in the offices 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:40.760 of a John Dear dealership they own in Tegusagalpa. The 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:44.400 room was full of trophies, from the soccer club Motagua, 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:49.440 one of the country's most popular teams. Jo Say Eduardo 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:53.640 is the executive president of that team. He also served 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:57.080 as the president of the Honduran American Chamber of Commerce, 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:00.280 and he was a past board member of that same 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:05.160 Honduras based development bank that partly financed the Ahazarka project. 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:09.320 He had left that position years before Dessa was formed, 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:13.800 but both he and Danielle bristle at the idea that 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:18.920 the family enjoys any political influence, much less runs the country. 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:23.560 We don't have private jets, we don't have helicopters, we 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:26.600 don't have nothing. I have the same car during the 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:31.040 last eight years. Not not the wealthiest family in the 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:34.720 country by by farm. We have, you know, a strong 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:41.119 investment group, but it's we don't have the love being capacity. 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:44.000 We don't have the fund capacity. We don't have the 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:48.399 funding capacity we were. It's a extremely limited and we 0:21:48.720 --> 0:21:52.520 and the investment that we have lost, as you know, 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:57.480 made a big dent in in our in our finances. 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:02.280 But they say they risk losing even more their good name. 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.840 These days, if you drive around La Speranza, you don't 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:09.760 have to look too hard to find the Itala name. 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:14.840 It's spray painted on walls all over town, often next 0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:19.480 to words like assassins. At Copeine rallies now there are 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:23.560 almost always banners that say the members of the family 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:28.920 should be in jail. One reason behind that anger has 0:22:29.000 --> 0:22:31.520 to do with the text messages that are being used 0:22:31.520 --> 0:22:36.720 against David Castillo. The Atala Zablas participated in some of 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:41.199 those message strings. When the conflict with Copine started in 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:47.520 Danielle used racial slurs to describe the protesters and question 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:53.200 the legitimacy of their indigenous identity. In another text exchange 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:59.400 from Danielle references Berta and two other Copeine activists who 0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:03.080 were charged by police for inciting unrest in Rio Blanco. 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:07.000 He wrote, quote, it cost a lot of money and 0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:12.359 political capital to get these three arrest warrants. Danielle says 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:16.040 he was talking about spending money on lawyers to pursue 0:23:16.160 --> 0:23:21.960 legal action against Copaine. We don't really have any political 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:25.280 capital to spend. We just hadn't. It was it wasn't. 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:29.120 It was like a base comments and it didn't really 0:23:29.160 --> 0:23:33.399 mean a lot. What I really wanted to emphasize was 0:23:33.480 --> 0:23:35.719 that we were spending a lot of money on it, 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:39.120 and we were not sure it was gonna work, and 0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:43.960 it really wasn't in the budget, and I had to 0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:48.200 do a lot of convincing with within the board too 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:55.159 to acquire the funds for for that, for that, you know, 0:23:55.680 --> 0:24:07.440 legal legal expenditure. There are other messages in October. There 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:10.480 was one from Daniel's uncle that seemed to be referencing 0:24:10.600 --> 0:24:15.840 protesters from Copeine. He wrote, let's send a message that 0:24:16.000 --> 0:24:18.520 nothing will be easy for those s O b s. 0:24:20.440 --> 0:24:24.640 And then there was another sent after Berta's murder where 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:28.959 Danielle wrote that the Honduran security minister had reported that 0:24:29.000 --> 0:24:32.639 the murder was being pursued as a Leo de Faldi's 0:24:33.040 --> 0:24:36.199 or a skirt problem, that is that it was a 0:24:36.280 --> 0:24:41.040 crime related to a love affair. Copeine's lawyers say this 0:24:41.119 --> 0:24:44.600 is evidence that the Itala Zabla family was in close 0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:50.960 contact with senior Honduran authorities. Danielle and Jose Eduardo say 0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:57.440 this isn't true. So well, that was bullick. I mean 0:24:57.760 --> 0:25:02.320 that that's noth That wasn't you know, privileged information that 0:25:02.760 --> 0:25:06.600 that was that was public and that's why everybody was 0:25:06.640 --> 0:25:11.200 saying that was like the initial theory in the news 0:25:11.280 --> 0:25:16.400 and everything. These and other messages have put a target 0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:25.520 on the backs of the Atala Zablas. That was Bart's 0:25:25.560 --> 0:25:30.200 oldest daughter, Olivia, leading a chant at a press conference 0:25:30.320 --> 0:25:35.320 in She was calling out the Atala Zabla family by name, 0:25:36.080 --> 0:25:40.719 labeling them assassins. She said they were the hidden force 0:25:41.119 --> 0:25:46.119 behind her mother's death. The Atala Zablas say these claims 0:25:46.280 --> 0:25:51.120 are baseless and dangerous. They generally have the same view 0:25:51.320 --> 0:25:55.320 of the situation that David has, that Dessa had nothing 0:25:55.400 --> 0:25:58.000 to do with the murder, that the AWA's ark A 0:25:58.080 --> 0:26:02.840 project was accepted the community, and that the texts have 0:26:02.960 --> 0:26:09.119 been misinterpreted and mishandled. They emphasize that the courts and 0:26:09.240 --> 0:26:14.399 other proceedings related to Berta's murder have explicitly stated that 0:26:14.440 --> 0:26:19.800 they've seen no evidence suggesting Dessa desas employees or its 0:26:19.800 --> 0:26:25.520 shareholders financed Berta's murder. The family members suggest they've been 0:26:25.560 --> 0:26:29.119 the victims of a smear campaign, and they say the 0:26:29.200 --> 0:26:34.240 international activist groups aligned with Berta have made things worse. 0:26:36.200 --> 0:26:43.120 Is amazing how they can coordinate all the informations, all 0:26:43.160 --> 0:26:48.000 the round, informations just to make feel like we are 0:26:48.160 --> 0:26:52.040 the the empire in the are the rebels in the 0:26:52.200 --> 0:26:58.000 Star Wars saga. But Jose Eduardo says, if anyone represents 0:26:58.080 --> 0:27:01.919 Darth Vader's empire in Star Wars, it's those leading the 0:27:01.960 --> 0:27:07.719 international campaign against the family. Danielle agrees that is the 0:27:07.760 --> 0:27:10.440 story that sells, you know, that's the story that people 0:27:10.440 --> 0:27:12.960 want to hear. They want to hear about how the 0:27:13.840 --> 0:27:17.600 you know, poor indigenous communities, uh, you know stood up 0:27:17.640 --> 0:27:23.080 to the bad businessmen. They read about, for example, the 0:27:23.160 --> 0:27:27.480 bear Ta Casserous Human Rights and Honduras Act. It's appending 0:27:27.520 --> 0:27:30.960 bill in the U. S. Congress. The references barts murder 0:27:31.440 --> 0:27:35.439 and would withhold military and security aid to Honduras until 0:27:35.760 --> 0:27:40.640 quote perpetrators are brought to justice. And they see images 0:27:40.720 --> 0:27:44.560 of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meeting with the Cassarus family 0:27:44.600 --> 0:27:48.600 in Washington and during a trip to Honduras. The Atala 0:27:48.680 --> 0:27:52.560 Zablas say, when it comes to political capital and influence, 0:27:53.240 --> 0:27:58.120 they're the underdogs. This is a message that Dessa has 0:27:58.160 --> 0:28:03.359 consistently tried to exp us that the international activists, not 0:28:03.560 --> 0:28:07.800 the business interests behind the dam hold the power. They 0:28:07.800 --> 0:28:12.720 say international activists and NGOs have more money than they do, 0:28:13.280 --> 0:28:16.960 and they argue that those interest groups have used Barton's 0:28:17.000 --> 0:28:23.120 murder to enrich themselves, to exploit a tragedy to raise funds. 0:28:24.200 --> 0:28:27.800 The activists working for those NGOs shake their heads in 0:28:28.000 --> 0:28:32.520 disbelief when they hear this. Annie Bird has been one 0:28:32.520 --> 0:28:37.200 of the most persistent of Death's opponents from that community. 0:28:37.400 --> 0:28:39.840 I spoke to her in the office of her human 0:28:39.920 --> 0:28:44.360 rights nonprofit in Washington, d C. It's in a cramped 0:28:44.440 --> 0:28:48.080 room on the second floor of an old house. The 0:28:48.160 --> 0:28:52.400 stairs are creaky, the furniture is worn, and there's a 0:28:52.400 --> 0:28:56.440 malfunctioning burglar alarm that likes to go off at random intervals. 0:28:57.080 --> 0:29:02.280 If she's well funded, it doesn't really show. That's the 0:29:02.520 --> 0:29:07.880 discourse in hunderus that they referred to Berta and Copeine 0:29:08.000 --> 0:29:12.880 as extortionists. It's almost as if they're unable to believe 0:29:13.080 --> 0:29:18.760 that people could operate for any other motivation than financial 0:29:19.720 --> 0:29:24.520 and you know, obviously it's it's it's a ridiculous assertion. 0:29:25.280 --> 0:29:27.480 All of us who have been involved in this work, 0:29:27.520 --> 0:29:34.640 including Berta, have chosen paths that compensate us in other ways. 0:29:40.440 --> 0:29:44.720 The quest by the Cassara's family's lawyers to go after 0:29:44.760 --> 0:29:49.240 the money has gone beyond the private investigators and the banks. 0:29:50.040 --> 0:29:56.320 They're also trying to uncover information about David Castillo's personal finances. 0:29:57.760 --> 0:30:01.360 Last year, those lawyers filed paper hers to subpoena bank 0:30:01.440 --> 0:30:05.200 records so David and his wife Tanya. The matter is 0:30:05.240 --> 0:30:08.640 with a court in Mississippi because that's where the bank 0:30:08.720 --> 0:30:12.880 that holds the mortgage is based. The lawyers wanted to 0:30:12.920 --> 0:30:15.680 find out how the couple paid for their one point 0:30:15.760 --> 0:30:19.560 six million dollar house in Houston. They bought it months 0:30:19.560 --> 0:30:24.160 after Barta's murder. Court records say Barta's family wants to 0:30:24.200 --> 0:30:28.040 present that financial information to the court in Honduras to 0:30:28.320 --> 0:30:35.040 quote helped secure Castillo's conviction. David describes those efforts as 0:30:35.040 --> 0:30:39.040 a fishing expedition, just one more way Copine is harassing 0:30:39.120 --> 0:30:44.600 him and his family. Tanya, David's wife, filed an affidavit 0:30:44.720 --> 0:30:48.840 last year related to that Mississippi case. She says the 0:30:48.920 --> 0:30:52.440 money came from companies that David owned, and she stated 0:30:53.200 --> 0:30:56.160 David is a loving husband and a good father. He 0:30:56.240 --> 0:30:59.040 worked hard to be a good provider and take care 0:30:59.080 --> 0:31:03.080 of our family. David this year told me he believes 0:31:03.280 --> 0:31:07.200 that all of these accusations against him will come to nothing. 0:31:07.960 --> 0:31:10.400 That he'll be able to walk free and pick up 0:31:10.440 --> 0:31:13.200 the pieces of the life he was forced to abandon 0:31:13.560 --> 0:31:15.960 two and a half years ago when he was arrested. 0:31:16.520 --> 0:31:21.360 I have faith that the day will come in which 0:31:21.400 --> 0:31:25.160 I will be able to rejoin with my family, and 0:31:25.200 --> 0:31:28.880 I will be able to hug my wife, hug my 0:31:29.000 --> 0:31:34.360 three beautiful daughters, and my mother, and and I will 0:31:34.400 --> 0:31:38.320 be able to join them. But after the first episodes 0:31:38.400 --> 0:31:42.600 of this podcast air, Tanya independently reached out to me, 0:31:43.160 --> 0:31:46.400 and she painted a picture that was very different from 0:31:46.400 --> 0:31:52.560 what David told me. In November, Tanya filed for divorce. 0:31:53.360 --> 0:31:59.320 Her petition sites discord or conflict of personalities. David has 0:31:59.400 --> 0:32:04.520 resisted her filing. He countered in court, denying Tanya's accusations 0:32:04.520 --> 0:32:08.560 of discord and demanding proof. He says he and his 0:32:08.600 --> 0:32:14.480 wife are still working on reconciliation. Tanya says that's not true. 0:32:15.120 --> 0:32:18.479 She says she's cut all ties to David. She and 0:32:18.520 --> 0:32:22.280 I never spoke directly, but she sent me a recorded statement. 0:32:23.080 --> 0:32:25.800 She says she was glad to hear we were making 0:32:25.840 --> 0:32:31.600 this show and investigating Bart's murder case. She deserves justice. 0:32:32.160 --> 0:32:35.680 Cases of violence against women and hunters occur far too often, 0:32:36.040 --> 0:32:38.520 and I, as a hunter and woman, pray that justice 0:32:38.560 --> 0:32:41.480 is served for all those involved in this case. As 0:32:41.480 --> 0:32:44.440 for my relationship with Vi Castillo, I fouled for divorce 0:32:44.560 --> 0:32:49.440 over eight months ago on November two, and I've had 0:32:49.480 --> 0:32:53.320 no involvement with this defense since before that filing. It 0:32:53.440 --> 0:32:55.840 is important to me that people know this divorce is 0:32:55.840 --> 0:32:58.840 not a legal strategy of any kind. I left David. 0:32:59.120 --> 0:33:01.200