Press Releases

WASHINGTON—Today, Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, alongside Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Delia C. Ramirez (D-IL) announced a new letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking him to pursue justice in the case of assassinated human rights advocate Juan Antonio López, and for the many others killed in defense of their communities and the environment in the Bajo Aguán in Honduras.

“We urge the Department’s active engagement with the Honduran government to deliver justice for the murder of López, to work to guarantee the safety of all environmental and human rights defenders, and to fully implement Decree 18-2024, which protects the Carlos Escaleras Botaderos Mountain National Park,” wrote the lawmakers in their letter, which was dated September 10, 2025.

The letter comes on the eve of the one-year anniversary, on September 14, 2024, of the killing of López.

He was shot multiple times by two men on a motorcycle, as he was leaving a chapel where he had just led a prayer service. His killing came days after he had publicly called out local politicians for corruption. The letter notes that while three people have been charged in connection with López’s killing, no charges have been levied against intellectual perpetrators of the crime. 

The full text of the letter is available here.