Security for Oil Palm Company Kills Indigenous Person in the Amazon

Por

24 November, 2023

^{Forest on the edge of the Acará River. The river and forest are used by traditional communities. Photo: Anderson Barbosa}

In the Brazilian Amazon, Indigenous Turiwara were attacked by private security of the Agropalma company which produces African palm oil. The attack took place on Friday, November 10 between the municipalities of Acará and Tailândia, in the state of Pará. The Indigenous person who was killed was identified as Agnaldo. Two others, Jonas and José Luis, were injured.

According to information from local media, the Indigenous people were following an ancient pathway on their motorcycles through the forest on land that the company argues belongs to them. The Indigenous people were fishing and hunting for their food.

In a report published in May of this year by Avispa Midia, we investigated the land conflict involving traditional communities and the Agropalma company who, beyond oil palm, are also involved in the program REDD+Agropalma in the forests. These forests, which for centuries have served the subsistence needs of the communities, and that are being demanded by the Indigenous peoples in Brazilian courts, are today demarcated and beneath company surveillance.

In a second report published by Avispa Midia, we explained that the Brazilian Association of Anthropology has solicited that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office open an investigation into the contract of the sell of carbon credits signed between Agropalma and Biofilia Ambipar Ambiental.

According to the association, part of the 50,519 hectares of Amazon forest—what Agropalma seeks to commercialize in the speculative carbon market—is territory being claimed in court by Indigenous Turiwara and Tembé of the upper Acará river.

After the publication of the report, the press office at Agropalma sent an email to Avispa Midia stating that “there are no Indigenous communities inside our operation area” and that “all of their lands were acquired in good faith from their legitimate owners and possessors.”

In order to go deeper into the issue, Avispa Midia interviewed lone Nakamura, district attorney of the public prosecutor’s office of the State of Pará, an agency of the Brazilian state that won in court the cancellation of the property registry of the company’s two estates, due to the areas acquired by Agropalma “having irregularities,” according to the district attorney.

According to the district attorney, there exists a modus operandi of companies in the Amazon that “buy land cheap, cheap because there are problems, there are irregularities, that in Brazil are called Grilagem,” that is, in the history of the buying and selling of the property, there exists fraud in the land title.

The company “cannot allege that it bought in good faith, and that it doesn’t have any knowledge of problems with the lands because as a company with resources and that knows the Brazilian legislation, it had to have better investigated the properties that they acquired,” sustained the district attorney.

Since the court’s decision, Agropalma’s two estates have reverted to public lands. And it is these lands that the communities, both Quilombo as well as Indigenous peoples, sustain are theirs.

In the interview with Avispa Midia carried out before the recent killing, the district attorney declared that as long as the land issue is not resolved, “instability will continue in the region and it will continue to generate conflicts.”

Below we reproduce part of a longer interview carried out with the district attorney lone Nakamura, who gives context to the land conflict involving Agropalma, offering us a wider perspective of the ongoing conflicts in this part of the Amazon.

How are the legal processes against Agropalma advancing?

There exist multiple legal cases against Agropalma for estates that the company acquired, including at least three civil actions in the public prosecutor's office, which refer to the estates Roda de Fogo, Castanheira, and Porto Alto. In the first two cases, the second instance court in Brazil confirmed the cancellation of the company’s property registry due to irregularities.

The cancellation of the ownership registry implies that these lands are once again public lands. In his sentence, the judge didn’t impede the company from seeking out the state agencies to buy these lands again.

(However, as the lands that are now public are administratively and judicially demanded by Quilombo communities, these collective land processes have priority over the sale of land to a company, as is the case of Agropalma).

In relation to the Porto Alto estate, recently Agropalma won a favorable decision in the second instance court and against our request. Our petition had been accepted by a first instance court, which had cancelled the property registry. The company appealed and obtained a favorable decision.

The public prosecutor’s office did not challenge the decision. First, it utilized a resource in which it asks for the desembargadora (which corresponds to a judge) to clarify inaccuracies in his decision, that is, to better clarify the decision made so that we can decide whether to appeal or not.

Now we are waiting clarification from the court regarding this latest decision in favor of Agropalma.

If the decision is upheld, the case could be brought to the last instance in Brazil, the Supreme Court.

So, the company has maintained possession of the lands while the ownership issue is being resolved. But what about the environmental license for the estates now that they are public lands?

This has been a question for us. We asked to State Secretariat of Environment what happened with the environmental license. They said to us that they gave the company a Rural Environmental License (LAR) because they had information that they were private lands. So, we informed them that there exists a legal ruling related to two estates confirming that they are now public areas. And we questioned them if they were going to revoke this license. We still do not have an answer.

Another argument frequently used by Agropalma is that there aren’t traditional communities on their lands. How does the public prosecutor’s office analyze this argument?

In the areas where they planted African oil palm, initially when they acquired the lands, there was a process of expulsion of the families from these areas. There was a cleansing process in this zone.

The communities have explained this. They left the area but it wasn’t voluntary. If was a process of violence, or of buying the lands, but a very unequal purchase, almost an expulsion. So, they were removed from their lands violently without really having any legal assistance. And today they need the lands that they traditionally occupied.

Today the law is much clearer. It indicates that these areas traditionally occupied are areas that still belong to their territory. The communities use a very strong argument to prove this, which is the existence of cemeteries, of ancient cemeteries, as material evidence that their ancestors occupied these lands before the company had acquired them.

What about the company’s conservation projects?

Agropalma uses an important discourse in the media, of sustainability and environmental protection. Its concerning that their discourse of conservation doesn’t include human beings. As if it only had to protect the forest, as if in the Amazon forest there aren’t any communities. As if the communities have not coexisted with the forest for centuries, sustaining the forest for generations.

The company’s discourse of conservation which excludes the presence of the communities is now based on the capture of resources, of carbon credit. So, there is, today in the market, the possibility of capitalizing, of monetizing off the non-carbon emission of these areas.

What we see in many cases is that these companies are taking advantage of the lands of legal reserves (forests that pertain to companies), to capture resources with carbon projects. However, they are extensive areas that have irregular titles. Many legal processes are showing us these irregularities.

So, first they benefit by buying the lands because they buy lands with problems, lands with irregularities in the titles. And now, besides doing that, they are also benefiting with the approval of monetization projects based on the maintenance of these forests, at the cost of excluding and prohibiting the use of these forests by the communities, who traditionally occupy these territories and that need these areas for their subsistence.

So, when people are prevented from fishing and hunting, these people are being prevented from obtaining their sustenance from nature, a practice that is part of their ancestry, of their culture.

What is happening is very serious in terms of the violation of human rights, because they do not even consider that these people or communities exist. It is deliberate invisibalization on part of the companies, of the existence of the traditional peoples and communities in this region.

It is necessary, first, to recognize these people and their rights exist, and to establish parameters of delimitation of their spaces which allows the coexistence and survival of these peoples and communities in the region.

The lack of definition of these spaces generates a lot of conflict. As long as this is not resolved, instability in the region will continue to generate more conflicts.

A parenthesis around the concept of “territorial delimitation” utilized in Brazil to protect the territories of traditional communities…

A would like to open a parenthesis on this judicial and administrative tool that we have in Brazil, the delimitation of territory is already a violation. Because the delimitation of territory is something imposed by European institutions. This notion of demarcating, of limits, does not pertain to Indigenous and Quilombo communities. They always have understood nature as something that can be shared amongst everyone, as a space of coexistence, and to satisfy the necessities of survival. The limit was necessity, it was subsistence.

The delineation serves the state in limiting rights, but not to truly protect what is the territory, culture, and value of the lands for these communities. The value of lands for a traditional community is its cultural and symbolic value, of identity and life. And the value of land for the state and for the companies is economic.

I have this critical perception of the delineation of lands. However, in our legislation it is what we have to protect the rights of the traditional peoples and communities. So, it is the parameter that we use.

In the specific case of the REDD+Agropalma Program, is the public prosecutor’s office carrying out any type of investigation?

It is on our radar, we are investigating. If there is sufficient evidence, it is possible that the case will move forward.

Have there been processes of consultation with the traditional communities in this region of the Amazon for the implementation of carbon credit projects?

Some companies have sought to do internal consultation processes, coordinated themselves. However, from what we understand about the consultation, considering the parameter of Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, it should be the state who coordinates these consultation processes, respecting the internal protocols of each community, in the case they have a protocol of how to do the consultation.

What for me is more problematic is not the consultation process in itself, but the process that takes place before a consultation.

What process?

What is happening in practice, with the implementation of this carbon market (which is still not regulated), is a grand dispute between companies for territories in the Amazon. Territories normally inhabited by communities.

There is a similar dispute to the one that occurred 500 years ago in the process of colonization. Whoever arrived first to the territory put up their flag, and from then on, this territory began to be part of a specific project. So, there is a dispute of who arrived first in the territory, who mapped the territory, who offered the first project to the communities. Only after that is there a process of internal consultation. So that, for me, is not free. It is irregular.

Do the communities have technical and legal advice to understand what these projects and the contacts they are signing mean? Who is defining their interests in the processes of negotiation with the companies?

What we see is that the communities do not have the freedom to elect, sufficient time, nor elements to decide if they want to commercialize their forest or not.

With this logic, what is worrying is not only the consultation, but the whole procedure. In my opinion, it is flawed from its origin.

Text updated on November 22, 2023

After the publication of this article, the press office of Agropalma sent the following phrase, referring to the assassination of the Indigenous Turiwara:

“Agropalma is awaiting the investigation of the events on part of the competent authorities. The company is at the disposal of the authorities and will collaborate with the clarification of the facts.”

Widespread Protests Continue Against Mining in Panama Despite Repression

Por

Sare Frabes

15 November, 2023

^{Protests have not stopped against the approval of the largest mining project in Central America.}

Going on one month, the people of Panama have maintained uninterrupted mobilizations throughout the county, in rejection of Law 406, which approves a mining contract with Cobre Panamá, the largest open pit mining project of copper and gold in Central America. Protests have continued despite state repression.

Since October 23, social organizations, unions, professors, and the public in general have protested against a contract signed between president Laurentino Cortizo and Minera Panamá, a subsidiary of the Canadian company, First Quantum Minerals (FQM). The agreement authorizes the Canadian corporation a mining concession for 20 years, which afterwards can be renewed, to exploit nearly 13,000 hectares in Coclé del Norte, in the province of Colón, which would devastate tropical forests that are part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.

Local media outlets have reported that as of last weekend, more than 1,000 protestors have been arrested. Among the detained are 134 minors. According to official reports, those who have been arrested are accused of vandalism, property damage, and other administrative offenses.

Mining Contract

This particular mining concession has a history that dates back to the 1990’s. In 1991, the concession was granted to explore possible gold and copper deposits. In 1997, the National Assembly approved the mining contract. In 2005, the Panama government supported infrastructure construction, and in 2009, the green light was given to begin commercial exploitation of the mine by the company that at the time was known as Minera Petaquilla (also of Canadian origin).

The contract for the exploitation established the possibility of renewal after 20 years, as long as the request was filed with the Ministry of Commerce and Industries 120 days before or after the end of each period. On December 30, 2016, the mining company filed for the extension, after completing the exploration stage and spending five years on the construction of the Cobre Panamá mine.

However, in 2017, the Supreme Court of Panama declared the original contract from 1997 unconstitutional. The ruling responded to a claim filed in 2009 by the Environmental Advocacy Center of Panama (CIAM), which argued that the cancellation of mining activity was necessary to prevent damage to the ecosystems in the northern part of the country.

*^{Mesoamerican Biological Corridor is deforested for mining. Photo: CIAM}*

Minera Petaquilla changed its name to Minera Panamá, and in February of 2017, it was granted an extension to operate until 2037. The Environmental Advocacy Center claims that the supreme court ruling had already nullified the contract. For their part, the mining company argued that the judicial ruling doesn’t affect their project, which has an investment of more than 10 million dollars. However, in order to operate the mine, they agreed to negotiate a new contract, which was done with the current president Laurentino Cortizo, and ratified in October as Law 406.

Rejection

The response from different organizations like the Central General de Trabajadores de Panamá and the Asociacion de Profesores de la Republica, as well as environmentalists, Indigenous peoples, campesinos, and students has been massive. The state repression, they say, has been excessive.

The protests continue in anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the law. In November, mobilizations have increased, demanding the president call an extraordinary session of the National Assembly in order to repeal Law 406.

According to local media, in addition to the road blockades in the capital of Panama, protests have been recorded in the provinces of Veraguas, Chiriquí, and Colón. In some areas, there are blockades impeding the circulation of goods and fuel, especially on the border with Costa Rica.

*^{Blockade against mining in Panama. Photo: Radio Temblor}*

The alternative media project Radio Temblor has emphasized the participation of Indigenous peoples in the protests, who have maintained barricades in the district of Ngäbe Buglé, “as there has been no response from the government to repeal the law.” They also emphasized that, in spite of the blockades, the transit of ambulances, along with vehicles carrying medicine and food, is being allowed.

“In the Coclé province, actions have been concentrated near the entrance to the mine, as well as protests of fisherman at the dock of the mining project in Punta Rincón. Protests also continue in the provinces of Colón, Darién, Los Santos, and Herrera, as well as in Indigenous areas of Guna Yala, Nasos, and Emberá,” explained the independent media outlet.

Assassinations

Four people have been killed during the mobilizations.

On October 26, 49-year-old, Agustín Rodríguez Morales, died after being run over by a vehicle during a protest in the community of Los Viveros, in the province of Colón. On November 1, Tomas Milton Cedeño, a teacher in the district of Ngäbe Buglé, originally from the province of Chiriquí, was run over during protests in Horconcitos.

During blockades on Tuesday, November 7, in the province of Panamá, Kenneth Darlington, a Panamanian citizen originally from the United States, assassinated Abdiel Díaz Chávez and Iván Rodríguez Mendoza. The 77-year-old killer remains in jail awaiting trial.

*^{Kenneth Darlington, a Panamanian citizen originally from the United States, assassinated two protesters on November 7.}*

On November 9, demonstrations demanded justice for the assassinated. “Panama, now more than ever, should be united because we cannot allow more blood to be shed in this country to defend a transnational company…the blame should not be placed on the blockades,” declared Luis Arturo Sánchez, of the Asociación de Educatores Vergüenses.

Repeal

After massive mobilizations, president Cortizo presented Law 407 which would prohibit new mining concessions. However, protestors demand the repeal of the contract with Minera Panamá.

Meanwhile, on November 8, the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) announced that it is in the process of reviewing all new, renewal, and extension applications for exploration and/or extraction of metals in order to comply with law 407.

However, experts warn that this decree maintains 15 active concessions, and leaves more than 100 existing applications pending. According to the MICI, all applications must be filed in a period of three months of the enactment of the law, which went into effect on November 3.

The Centro de Incidencia Ambiental detailed that there are 103 mining exploration applications that must be filed by February 2024 at the latest, in order to comply with the new law.

However, according to the CIAM, there are still 15 concessions that have been granted. Of those 15, four have expired, and seven are waiting an extension. Thus, they would also be excluded.

Of the four remaining concessions, two belong to Veragold, located in the province of Veraguas. In that region, according to the law protecting the watershed of the Santa Maria river, mining is prohibited, so extraction could not begin. There is also the Minera Petaquilla, backed by law 9 of 1997, which has been declared unconstitutional.

The only concession that would remain active is that of Minera Panamá, which was recently legalized with Law 406, and which has been hit with more than 8 lawsuits questioning its constitutionality in the Supreme Court.

Militarization, Ecocide, and Community Division Caused by the Maya Train in Campeche

Por

Aldo Santiago

13 November, 2023

^{Cover photo: The ejido Paraíso Nuevo is divided by train tracks. The Maya Train has augmented the division of the community. Photo: Santiago Navarro F.}

Perla Rubí Garduza Pablo, a housewife living in the ejido Paraíso Nuevo, Campeche, sighs from the question: What do you think about the president declaring that he wasn’t going to knock down any trees? The sky clouded over, anticipating the rain. She responded, “It is a lie! They have damaged our flora, our fauna, and our life,” clearly upset about the construction of the Maya Train in her community.

The devastation witnessed in the ejido Paraíso Nuevo is taking place in other territories as well. According to an analysis of satellite images carried out by CartoCrítica, as of June 2023, 6,659 hectares have been deforested in the Yucatan Peninsula to make way for the construction of the Maya Train. CartoCrítica emphasizes that of those 6,659 hectares, 5,769 of them were deforested ignoring environmental legislation. Changes in land use were not authorized by the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT).

*^{Trees knocked down around the ejido Paraíso Nuevo. Photo. Santiago Navarro F.}*

Rubí complains that promises from government officials to provide benefits to the population in exchange for the project were not fulfilled. She says that the damages caused by the megaproject are palpable in the everyday life of the community in southern Campeche.

A team from Avispa Midia visited the ejido Paraíso Nuevo, where Section 1 of the Maya Train is being built. The residents say that the negative consequences of the megaproject are not something on the horizon, but are already present, and have been for three years since construction began during the Covid-19 pandemic.

*^{The train line passes through the ejido Paraíso Nuevo, dividing the community in two. Photo: Santiago Navarro F.}*

Joel Jiménez is one of the 300 inhabitants of this ejido, located 14 kilometers from the city of Candelaria, where one of the train’s stations is being built. A leather worker and evangelical pastor, he was one of the first to begin denouncing the damage being caused by the construction of the train lines.

“At that time, they were throwing limestone powder. Everyone got sick with respiratory problems. There were elderly folks who were taken to the emergency room. The Covid pandemic combined with the construction of the train lines; those were times when we didn’t even know what to do,” Rubí adds.

“According to what we were told, the project would bring much progress,” the pastor recalls. However, rather than progress, the impact on the community and environment has been severe, including the loss of thousands of trees, the disappearance of fauna, as well as deception from false job offers for youth in the community.

Furthermore, the community has been militarized. Members of the Mexican army and national guard are in the community, constantly guarding the train lines. “They are here in our community, they monitor that nobody goes onto the tracks,” says the pastor, who explains that the armed forces have remained in the community since January of 2023 after the violent eviction of inhabitants who had set up a blockade at the construction site.

*^{Inhabitants of Paraíso Nuevo during the first blockade of the train’s construction in 2021.}*

Division

For inhabitants of Paraíso Nuevo, the principal problem is that the community is divided by the train lines. “They divided us,” says Rubí, but her description is not limited to the social question. The Maya Train enhanced the separation of the community, making movement within the community difficult for inhabitants who were accustomed to walking across where the train lines now exist, to go to school, the clinic, or to obtain basic goods.

*^{A bridge and an animal tunnel, the only crossings available in the ejido Paraíso Nuevo. Photos: Santiago Navarro F.}*

While the Maya Train will be protected by an embankment, according to inhabitants of Paraíso Nuevo, the different crossings of the train lines that already existed will be blocked off by a fence once the train begins operation.

For this reason, inhabitants of the community demanded the construction of three bridges for easy crossing of everyone in the community, because depending on their location, many will have to travel up to a kilometer along the tracks just to cross. In spite of the initial promises, only one elevated bridge was constructed. It is almost three meters high, and will also be used by automobiles, ignoring the demands of the community. “Here we have people in wheelchairs, elderly, children. The president is not paying attention to the harm being caused to our community,” sustains Rubí.

The pastor mentions that on repeated occasions, the community solicited the construction of the bridges for their own safety. To justify the decision not to construct the bridges, “An engineer dared to tell me, ‘it is because of the money. A bridge for the whole road costs 50 million pesos, and what we are doing will only cost 20 million.’ In other words, they want to save 30 million pesos at the expense of the people,” claims Jiménez.

Strategies

According to Rubí, there were several strategies used by the government to impose the megaproject. One of them, repeated in various places like Candelaria, Campeche and Bacalar, Quintana Roo, was to negotiate the authorization of the construction exclusively with ejido members, in spite of their presence being almost nil in Paraíso Nuevo.

“There are only five ejido members that live here. The majority live in Candelaria, in Ciudad de Carmen, in Campeche. That was the argument made by the community. The ejido members were paid although they had no reason to be. The project did not harm them,” contextualized Rubí, referring to how the ejido members received a compensation payment for approval of the project’s construction.

She says that community members were surprised and upset when heavy machinery arrived to begin construction after an agreement was reached between the National Fund for Tourism Development (FONATUR) and ejido members. The community’s first reaction was to send letters to local authorities demanding benefits in the community in exchange for approval of the project.

The pastor points out that the community made clear to government officials and authorities their disagreement with the project, because of the harm caused by the restriction of mobility inside the community. They even sent a commission of community members to Mexico City to demand attention to their demands, but there was no response. For this reason, the population mobilized installing a blockade and halting construction.

Section 1

The construction work on Section 1 of the Maya Train, a contract worth more than $13,394,000,000 pesos, is being carried out by Consorcio LAMAT Tramo 1, a business group that includes Mota-Engil Mexico, China Communications Construction Company LTD, Grupo Cosh, Eyasa and Gavil Ingeniería.

The Mexican subsidiary of the Portuguese company, Mota-Engil, has been repeatedly accused of anomalies in its contracts with the federal government, particularly with the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto. The Superior Auditor of the Federation reported irregularities in highway projects; unforeseen expenses in Guanajuato, undue payments in Colima, as well as unjustified expenses in the section Coatzacoalcos-Villahermosa in Tabasco.

In spite of this history, the company has secured other contracts during the current administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). In addition to the contract with FONATUR, it has secured contacts with the National Bank of Public Works and Services, as well as with the Secretariat of the Navy. The latter agency awarded it a contract for more than $11,000,000,000 pesos to rehabilitate 310 kilometers of train lines between Coatzacoalcos and Palenque which will connect the Maya Train with the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Another point of contention related to the construction on this section of the Maya Train is the impact on the biodiversity of the region. According to the Latin American Observatory on Geopolitics, through an analysis of the Environment Impact Report (MIA-R) of phase 1 of the Maya Train, in this region the removal of more than 11,000 forest species is expected, with “two species that are classified as endangered, five that are threatened, and one that is subject to special protection.”

*^{Traces of deforestation in Section 1, from Candelaria to Escárcega in Campeche. Photos: Santiago Navarro F./ Aldo Santiago}*

Blockades

“In 2021, 130 people united to set up a protest encampment here in the community,” explains the pastor. After three months blocking the construction, the ex-general director of FONATUR, Javier May Rodríguez, visited the inhabitants of Paraíso Nuevo.

*^{Javier May, ex-head of FONATUR, during inspection of the construction site at the beginning of 2023.}*

“How is it possible that a train worth millions of pesos can pass through a town that is marginalized and without streets,” wonders Jiménez. In front of 200 community members, the ex-head of FONATUR promised a series of benefits: to pave the streets, provide solar panels, internet antennas, and improvements to the health clinic. They even promised a housing program, divided in three stages, the last of which was never fulfilled.

After this omission, 24 families were left without housing. In that moment, the officials of FONATUR, José Luis García Vela, infrastructure manager, and Mario Alberto Cárdenas Vera, analyst, refused to fulfill what May had promised. “After that, the idea emerged to again physically stop the construction, in November of 2022,” explained inhabitants of Paraíso Nuevo.

Two months passed without dialogue. The community members of the ejido denounced that FONATUR officials only showed their faces beneath pressure and threats from the mobilizations. “On January 9, 2023, the national guard, agents of the public prosecutor’s office, state police, and military arrived to evict the people,” recalls the pastor, regarding the operation during which he was detained and accused of organized crime.

“We were under an injunction,” claims Jiménez, who continues his legal process in freedom because FONATUR did not present evidence to support their legal complaint.

“They accused us of organized crime. They accused us of robbery. I am an evangelical pastor dedicated to preaching Jesus Christ. Far from motivating the people to do crime, I counsel them to do the right thing,” says the pastor in relation to the legal charges against him for his participation in the protests.

For her part, Rubí regrets that the division of the community has also manifested in the community fabric. She remembers that during the blockades, the majority of the people were united. However, once they began to distribute benefits, “the people who had already been given benefits, distanced themselves from the community, and joined the other side. Now, in meetings about drinking water, electricity, or any other issue related to the community, there is still friction,” she explains.

The pastor emphasizes that since the moment of his detention, the military, army, and national guard have their forces present in the community. “They watch over us so that nobody gets on the tracks,” he denounces.

Rubí is one of the women of Paraíso Nuevo who is raising her voice against the militarization of public space in her community. According to her, members of the army and national guard use drugs and alcohol in the parks and basketball courts of the community. In spite of the complaints, they claim that their superiors have relieved some personal. After the new ones arrive, they engage in the same type of conduct.

Military in Charge

On Monday, September 4, during the president’s morning news conference, it was announced that the control of the company Tren Maya Sociedad Anónima de Capital Variable (Tren Maya S.A de C.V.) would be transferred to the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA). It was also announced that General Óscar David Lozano Águila would become the general director. This transfer of power occurred after the resignation of Javier May, the head of FONATUR, the agency which had previously coordinated the project.

Since February 2023, Lozano had announced different actions to establish the company, Tren Maya S.A de C.V., with the intention of fulfilling the president’s promise since 2020 that SEDENA would manage and operate the project. “(General Lozano) will now formally do so by decision of the Secretary of Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval,” declared AMLO in September, along with announcing the signing of a decree to concretize the transfer of the megaproject to SEDENA, no later than December 31, 2023.

Cargo

For the conference on September 25, General Lozano reported the completion of 185 kilometers of the total 226 that make up Section 1 of the Maya Train, which runs from Palenque in Chiapas to Escárcega in Campeche.

The military highlighted that the construction of two important facilities are in the works for the loading and unloading of the trains in this section. “The first of them is an exchange terminal that will begin construction early next year in Palenque and will allow connection between the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (managed by the Secretary of the Navy) and the Maya Train,” emphasized the military officer.

He also added that in Escárcega, an operations yard was built to “be able to transport fuel, cement, steel, grain, perishable goods, including vehicles, among other items that will be transported through the train’s rail system.”

According to information from General Lozano at the beginning of 2023, the infrastructure of the Maya Train “will allow us to provide service to Petróleos Mexicanos, that Pemex will be the principal client of the Maya Train, because up to 80% of our capacity will be filled by Pemex.”

“It is not what the television says, nor the government,” reflects the pastor about who will benefit from the megaproject. “The government needs to see the southeast with different eyes, not with those of multimillionaire profits. They are imposing a project that is not even ours,” he claims, while waiting for the resolution of his own legal process for protesting against the megaproject in the Mexican southeast.

First Trip

During the first weekend in September of 2023, dozens of media outlets praised the start of the first trip of the Maya Train between sections 2 and 4. In a supervisory trip led by AMLO, the first train car traveled from the San Francisco station in Campeche, toward different stops and stations between the state of Yucatan and Quintana Roo.

According to Maite Ramos Gómez, director of Alstom Mexico, the business in charge of manufacturing and delivering 42 trains for the megaproject, the first trip of the Maya Train successfully passed the test by traveling 1000 kilometers through 14 stations. Ramos also informed that the model of the train uses diesel, contrasting with the official discourse which had insured that the energy used to move the train would be electric.

According to government officials, the inauguration of the megaproject is planned for December 21, 2023. In total, it will travel 1,545 kilometers through the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo.

*^{AMLO accompanied by federal and local officials during the first trip to test out the Maya Train. September 2023}*

Along with AMLO, military officials and members of his cabinet, like the head of SEMARNAT, Maria Luisa Albores, were present to celebrate the first trip on the train.

EZLN Announces Changes to Autonomous Governing Structures

Por

Sare Frabes

8 November, 2023

^{In March of 2022, thousands of Zapatistas simultaneously mobilized in five municipalities of Chiapas to protest against war. Photo: Tercio Compas/ Enlace Zapatista}

On Sunday, November 5, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), via a fourth communique disseminated during this last month, after months without official declarations, announced that they will do away with the Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities (MAREZ), as well as the Good Government Councils (JBG).

The document, signed by Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, confirms that the decision of the Zapatista communities “was made after a long and profound critical and self-critical analysis,” in consultation with the autonomous communities in Chiapas.

In consequence, the EZLN communicated the nullification of all stamps, letterheads, positions, representations, and future agreements with whatever MAREZ or JBG; the agreements held prior to this date will continue until the end of their validity. They also shared that the Caracoles will remain closed to the outside until further notice.

“In following communiques, we will explain little by little the reasons and the process for which we made this decision. I can tell you that this assessment, in its final phase, began three years ago. We will also explain to you the new structure of Zapatista autonomy, and how it has been developing,” contextualized the Zapatista spokesperson.

Chiapas: Complete Chaos

The Zapatista spokesperson explained that the main cities in Chiapas are experiencing “complete chaos. The municipal presidencies are occupied by what we call ‘legal assassins’ or ‘disorganized crime.’ There are blockades, assaults, kidnappings, extorsion, forced recruitment, shootings. This is the effect of the patronage of the state government, and the dispute for political positions currently underway. They are not political proposals facing off against each other, but criminal societies,” states the communique.

The populations of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán, Las Margaritas, and Palenque, to mention just a few municipal seats, “are in the hands of one of the cartels of disorganized crime, and are in dispute,” says the EZLN commander, who assures that petitioning the authorities is useless because “they are the ones who commit crimes and have no shame in the robbery they are carrying out.”

*In March of 2022, thousands of Zapatistas simultaneously mobilized in five municipalities of Chiapas to protest against war. Photo: Tercio Compas/ Enlace Zapatista*

You might be interested in – 10,000 Indigenous People Protest Organized Crime Violence in Chicomuselo, Chiapas

At the same time, the communique emphasizes the gravity of the situation in rural communities, particularly those located along the border with Guatemala.

The EZLN spokesperson also accuses the local and national media of “shamelessly echoing the social networks of the state government,” and named specific official authorities responsible for the situation of violence in Chiapas.

“The military forces and federal, state, and local police are not in Chiapas to protect the civilian population. They are there with the simple objective of stopping migration. That is the order that comes from the North American government. As is their way, they have converted migration into a business. The smuggling and tracking of people is a business through which the authorities, via extorsion, kidnapping, and the buying and selling of migrants, are shamelessly enriching themselves,” adds the communique.

Subcomandante Moisés also shared the invitation for the festivities between December of 2023 and January of 2024, to celebrate 30 years of the Zapatista war against oblivion. The celebration will take place between December 23, 2023 and January 7, 2026, “with the main celebration being the 30-31 of December and the 1-2 of January.”

New Criminal Charge Filed Against Indigenous Land Defender in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

Por

Sare Frabes

7 November, 2023

^{David Hernández Salazar during an assembly of the National Indigenous Congress in March of 2023. Photo: Aldo Santiago}

The Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation recently filed a legal complaint against the Indigenous Binnizá, David Hernández Salazar, for the crime of damage to public roads and highways. Salazar has been active in the struggle against the construction of an industrial park of the Interoceanic Corridor megaproject in his community of Puente Madera, in the municipality of San Blas Atempa, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. He was notified on October 18, 2023 of the new charge.

The complaint was filed by legal representatives of the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation before the National Attorney General’s Office. The human rights defender is required to appear in court for his initial hearing on December 1, 2023. According to the human rights organizations Front Line Defenders and RED TDT, Salazar and his lawyers do not have any additional information regarding the legal complaint.

Salazar, who is part of the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defense of Land and Territory (APIIDTT), is facing another criminal charge filed by the municipality of San Blas Atempa, along with certain individuals. That complaint is filed at the Regional District Attorney’s Office of the Isthmus, located in Tehuantepec.

There are 17 outstanding arrest warrants against Indigenous men and women of Puente Madera related to that case. The next hearing will be on Tuesday, November 7.

You might be interested in- In Defense of the Isthmus: The Persistent Struggle Against the Interoceanic Corridor.

On March 14, 2021, the Indigenous Binnizá community of Puente Madera began a struggle in defense of their common use lands, known as El Pitayal, against the construction of an industrial park. They demand their community autonomy and self-determination.

“During a civil observation mission, in July of 2023, 23 national and international civil society organizations visited the Binnizá community. We denounced the acts of criminalization and defamation against 17 human rights defenders in Puente Madera for their organizing work against the industrial park, also known as Development Poles for Wellbeing (PODEBI), of the Interoceanic Corridor in San Blas Atempa. This criminalization includes the human rights defender, David Hernández Salazar,” the organizations RED TDT and Front Line Defenders explain in a communique.

In another communique, the organizations pertaining to the Front of Oaxacan Organizations (FORO) denounced the actions of criminalization against Salazar “as part of the campaign of defamation, harassment, persecution, and threats on part of the three levels of government, state institutions, SEDENA (Secretariat of National Defense), political party organizations, politicians, and businessmen who are interested in the imposition” of the industrial park in the common use lands of San Blas Atempa.

In the communique, the organizations demand the charges against Salazar and other members of the community of Puente Madera be dismissed and their human rights be guaranteed.

Human Rights Defender

David Hernández Salazar is a human rights defender and representative of the community of Puente Madera. He is also a member of the general coordination of the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defense of Land and Territory (APIIDTT). Since 2017, he has been actively involved in the struggle to defend the common use lands known as El Pitayal, which at the time were being threatened by the extraction of materials in Cero Igú and by the installation of an electric substation. As a member of the APIIDTT, since 2021, Salazar has represented the Indigenous Binnizá community of Puente Madera in defense of their territorial rights and self-determination, against the installation of one of the industrial parks of the Interoceanic Corridor, in the common use lands of San Blas Atempa, Oaxaca.

Peru: Water Crisis, Extractivism, and Food Insecurity

Por

Javier Bedía Prado

3 November, 2023

^{Coverphoto: Red de Comunicación Regional}

Half of the Peruvian population is at risk of food shortage; a situation worsened by the water crisis caused by El Niño. This year, draught has caused the loss of thousands of hectares of crops, also affecting water supplies. As a consequence, the government declared a state of emergency in September in 544 districts, pertaining to 14 regions.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, 50% of the inhabitants of Peru are experiencing food insecurity; one of the highest rates in Latin America. In 2022, the country recorded the highest number in South America, with 16.6 million people lacking nutritious food.

In this context, in recent months, the prices of certain staple products have increased by levels not seen in the last two decades. This is due to the strong rains and flooding in the coastal zones. For example, the price of limes increased by up to 500%. Climate volatility is also affecting labor activities. There are 8.5 million people at risk of not being able to carry out their economic activities due to the water deficit, warns the Sociedad de Comercio Exterior del Peru.

The delay in the seasonal rains in the Andes and Altiplano, which didn’t fall until the month of September, has caused havoc. In Puno, the region hardest bit by the draught, nearly 17,000 hectares of crops were lost. According to the Encuesta Nacional de Siembras, 9,000 hectares of Quinoa were also lost, which represents one fourth of the expected total amount of production. Of potatoes, a staple food in many parts of the country, 5,000 of the 60,000 hectares being cultivated were lost. Alpaca breeding for textiles and livestock are other sectors that have been affected by the draught in the southern Andean region.

^{Draught in Peru. Photo: Agencia Andina}

“The period between 2022-2023 was critical. The rains didn’t come on time, and agricultural production was affected. We were forewarned about the situation; they are cyclical. Now the rains have arrived and according to our observations, they will only last for a short duration. This third harvest, at the end of November, will be better. The communities have techniques of water collection that the state doesn’t care to pay attention to. They believe that Western technology will resolve everything. The Ministry of Agriculture should consider our observations and techniques. There are catchment areas for water storage during draughts,” explained Rubén Apaza Añamuro, the spokesperson for the Consejo de Autoridades Originarias, Mallkus, Jilacatas y Mama Tallas de Puno, to Avispa Midia.

An undeniable effect of climate change in the Altiplano is the decreasing water levels in the emblematic Lake Titicaca. This year, the lake dropped by 80 centimeters due to high temperatures during the day, according to the National Meteorology and Hydrology Service of Peru. According to specialists, among the social implications of the decrease in water levels is the potential migratory exodus of the population of Puno.

Extractivist Industries Use Excessive Water and Pollute Headwater Basins

Water use in Peru is monopolized by agroindustry. The National Water Authority of Peru states that this sector uses 87.7% of the liquid, while 9.9% is destined for the population. The mining industry uses 1.5%, yet its impact is amplified due to the damage caused to the headwater basins. In Peru, 38% of extractivist projects are located in Indigenous and campesino territories, and 56% are in areas more than 3000 meters above sea level, where the rivers are born.

“Agroindustry is concentrated on the north coast, and mining activities are principally in the Andes. They attack the watersheds. The state doesn’t care if they contaminate the grass for livestock production. The rivers look yellowish due to the oxide residues, and this is then transmitted to the pastures, then to the dairy products. In consequence, this affects the entire country. As communities, we emphasize that we must specifically avoid the contamination of the headwater basins,” added Apaza, Indigenous authority of the Puno Province of Huancané.

In September, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, Pedro Arrojo, stressed that the destruction of aquifers, wetlands, and rainforests is principally due to mining. The report signals that the consequences are devastating: 31% of the population of Peru (more than 10 million people, 84% of which are minors), face daily risks of contamination from heavy metals and other toxins.

As a conservation alternative, the Sociedad Peruana de Alpacas Registradas proposed the creation of an autonomous organization to protect the Andean and Altiplano wetlands. “We want to emphasize that these wetlands are the source of small rivers that eventually connect to large rivers that flow into Lake Titicaca,” says a representative of the organization. According to the National Institute for Research on Glaciers and Mountain Ecosystems, Puno, Cusco, and Arequipa are home to more than 50% of Peru’s wetlands,

With the lack of rain and the drilling of wells for mining, these types of high Andean wetlands have been drying up, which adds to the increasingly frequent draughts and the decrease in water supplies.

^{Photo: Red de Comunicación Regional}

“There are experiences to prevent ecocides. There are countries that have been devastated. This system of production isn’t interested in people, in living beings. We are acting from Mother Earth to insure our activities. We openly confront the neoliberal extractivist model that considers natural resources to be means to enrich oneself. We consider nature and Mother Earth to be alive. The elites promote genetically modified seeds, but they do not think about coexistence. As Indigenous authorities, as Indigenous and campesino peoples, we are insuring that our ways of life and production are in harmony,” said Apaza.

In recent weeks the situation has forced the rationing of water distribution in more than half of the 25 regions, among them in Lima. Ten percent of Peruvians do not have access to drinking water and are forced to pay a higher price. One fourth of the 25 departments of the country are receiving less than 12 hours of water service daily.

In this context of water scarcity and climate crisis, there are government voices suggesting the privatization of water in Lima. For the Ministry of Housing, Hania Pérez de Cuéllar, it is necessary to “analyze whether restructuring or privatization is better.”

The private management of water failed in the only region where it has been applied, in Tumbes, which now has the lowest access indicator, with only seven daily hours. Now, the water supply in the capital, Lima, the second largest desert city in the world, as well as throughout Peru, is being included in the privatization debate, opened up by groups of power aligned with the Dina Boluarte regime.

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