"MEXICO CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday condemned the slaying of an environmental activist in Honduras, adding to a growing number of international voices that have raised concern over the killing.
The environmental leader, Juan López, was gunned down earlier this month in the municipality of Tocoa in rural northern Honduras after spending years combating mining companies to preserve the region’s rivers and forests.
“I stand with those who see their basic rights trampled and with those who act for the common good in response to the cries from the poor of the earth,” Francis said at the end of his Angelus message at the Vatican.
The rural Caribbean region of Colón has seen a wave of slayings of environmentalists in recent years, and three activists from López’s organization were killed last year. "
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