Lesbia Urquía

{{Infobox person

| name = Lesbia Urquía

| image =

| caption =

| birth_name = Lesbia Yaneth Urquía

| birth_date = 1967

| birth_place = La Esperanza, Honduras

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2016|7|6|1967}}

| death_place = Marcala, Honduras

| death_cause = Assassination

| other_names =

| occupation = Environmentalist, indigenous rights activist

| years_active =

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}}

Lesbia Yaneth Urquía (1967 - 6 July 2016) was a Honduran human rights activist. She was an advocate for the environment.{{cite news|last=Redacción|title=El brutal asesinato en Honduras de Lesbia Urquía, activista ambientalista compañera de la fallecida Berta Cáceres|url=https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-36741825|date=8 July 2016|accessdate=21 December 2018|work=BBC News Mundo|language=en-GB}}{{cite news|last=Ahrens|first=Jan Martínez|title=Asesinada en Honduras otra dirigente ecologista, compañera de Berta Cáceres|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2016/07/07/mexico/1467917902_092949.html|date=8 July 2016|accessdate=21 December 2018|work=El País|issn=1134-6582|language=es}}{{cite book|last=Gómez-Barris|first=Macarena|title=The Extractive Zone: Social Ecologies and Decolonial Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nII5DwAAQBAJ&q=Lesbia+Urqu%C3%ADa&pg=PT126|accessdate=21 December 2018|date=3 November 2017|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=9780822372561|language=en}}

Biography

Lesbia Urquía was a community leader of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), the same organization which Berta Cáceres belonged to. Urquía was opposed to the privatizations of the rivers, because they are diverted and stop giving water to the indigenous communities. In addition, dams promote the deforestation of these areas by companies and affect the flora and fauna of these lands. She had fought the construction of a hydroelectric dam of international investors in La Paz. The Lencas considered that the dams would affect their access to water, food and medical supplies, so that their traditional way of life would be jeopardized.{{cite news|last1=Malkin |first1=Elisabeth|last2=Arce |first2=Alberto |title=Berta Cáceres, indigenous activist, is killed in Honduras |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/04/world/americas/berta-caceres-indigenous-activist-is-killed-in-honduras.html |accessdate=21 August 2017|agency=The New York Times |date=3 March 2016}} The construction of this dam caused the Gualcarque River to stop supplying them with water.

On 6 July 2016, authorities found Urquía's body in the city of Marcala, near the landfill Mata Mula.{{cite book|last=Janssen|first=Sarah|title=The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hdu-CwAAQBAJ&q=Lesbia+Urqu%C3%ADa&pg=RA17-PA1992|accessdate=21 December 2018|date=6 December 2016|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781600572074|language=en}} She had been killed by two hit men with a machete to her head.{{cite book|last=Berumen|first=Sergio A.|title=¿Cañones o mantequilla? Respuestas de economía para no economistas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GJxMDwAAQBAJ&q=Lesbia+Urqu%C3%ADa&pg=PT49|accessdate=21 December 2018|date=19 January 2018|publisher=ESIC|isbn=9788417129460|language=es}} The Council held the government responsible for her death, specifically the president of the National Party and her husband.

Urquía had three children and was 49 years of age at the time of her death.{{cite book|last1=Verbos|first1=Amy Klemm|title=Indigenous Aspirations and Rights: The Case for Responsible Business and Management|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsEtDwAAQBAJ&q=Lesbia+Urqu%C3%ADa&pg=PT85|accessdate=21 December 2018|date=20 July 2017| publisher=Routledge| isbn=9781351270168|language=en|last2=Henry|first2=Ella|last3=Peredo|first3=Ana Maria}}