Part 9: The Verdict

Blood River

Bloomberg

Society & Culture, True Crime, News

4.4 • 732 Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2021

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After a five-year investigation, a Honduran court will deliver its verdict in the trial of David Castillo, the hydroelectric executive accused of plotting the brutal 2016 murder of environmental activist Berta Cáceres.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Donald Trump has already changed the way we think about the US economy. Now he's back in the White
0:05.5	House and Bloomberg's Trumponomics podcast is here to help. I'm Stephanie Flanders, head of
0:11.6	government and economics at Bloomberg. Whatever the big question of the week is, we'll have something
0:16.2	interesting to tell you about it in a lively conversation with the reporters and analysts closest to the action.
0:22.3	Listen to new episodes every Wednesday and follow Trumponomics on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
0:30.5	It's day 25 in the trial of David Castillo. The CEO is accused of planning the murder of environmental activists Bertha Caceres.
0:40.5	On this day, the judge calls a witness for the prosecution to the stand.
0:49.5	Danielle Atala is part of the Atala Zabla family. They sunk millions of dollars into David Castillo's
0:57.3	company, Dessa. For Berta's family and her supporters, Atala is a very important witness.
1:06.3	He wasn't just an investor in Dessa. He was also the CFO, the man who kept track of the company's money.
1:13.6	He was in regular contact with David before and after the murder.
1:18.6	Even more important for the prosecution,
1:21.6	the Atala Zabla family is David's connection to the powers that run Honduras.
1:34.1	For them, just getting Daniel Atala on the stand carries a lot of symbolic weight.
1:40.3	Bertha herself often complained that wealthy and politically connected business leaders are untouchable by the Honduran justice system.
1:46.8	She and her backers have always alleged that a handful of rich families, the Atalazablas among them, dominate the country's power structures.
1:54.7	They contend that these families use their influence to buy protection from the government,
2:03.6	from police, and from judges. The notion that the Atalazabla family might somehow be able to influence the outcome of this case
2:10.6	has clung to it from the moment David Castillo was arrested as a suspect.
2:15.6	It's an idea that the Atalazablas dismiss as ridiculous and paranoid.
2:23.2	Not the wealthiest family in the country by farm.
2:27.8	We have, you know, a strong investment group, but it's, we don't have the lobbying capacity. We don't have the fund capacity.
	...

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