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Blood River

Part 9: The Verdict

Blood River

Bloomberg

Society & Culture, True Crime, News

4.4732 Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2021

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

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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