Soon after assuming her mother's role of general coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) in May 2017, Zúñiga Cáceres survived an attempt on her own life.

[2] She was raised by her mother in the home of her grandmother, Austra Berta Flores, a civil servant who served as mayor of La Esperanza, governor of Intibucá, and deputy in the National Congress, unusual roles for women in the area at that time.

[2] She graduated from college in Cuba before beginning to work towards a master's degree in Latin American Studies in Mexico City.

[4] Zúñiga Cáceres' mother, one of the main indigenous leaders, was persecuted and threatened in particular for her struggle against the environmental and social consequences of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project.

[5][8] By March 2018, nine men, including retired and active Honduran military and two of the developers of the Aqua Zara project, had been accused of complicity in the crime, with one declaring that the murder had been a paid assassination.