| Mexico: One in Three Violent Attacks Are Against Land Defenders |
| Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=33791"><span class="small">teleSUR</span></a> |
| Saturday, 21 March 2020 13:45 |
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Excerpt: "In Mexico, one out of every three violent attacks is directed against environmental and land defenders, mainly those who oppose energy projects, according to study."
Mexico: One in Three Violent Attacks Are Against Land Defenders21 March 20
Between 2012 and 2019, 83 environmental defenders died, while hundreds more were beaten and threatened. Most of those killed were from rural and Indigenous communities affected by renewable energy mega-projects, the Mexican Center for Environmental Rights (CEMED) revealed in a recent study. They were killed "for demonstrating against these invasive projects, promoted in 2013 with the energy reform of then-President Enrique Peña Nieto," the research said.
"Land defenders denounce to UN representative abuses suffered in Mexico." "This reality reveals that, in Mexico, environmental defenders lack freedom and security to exercise a basic human right: to defend their beliefs and properties," a CEMDED spokesperson said. Furthermore, the figures position Mexico as one of the most dangerous nations in the Americas for the defense of the environment, the report added. Since the country declared war on drugs in 2006, the escalation of violence has increased. Aggressions are selective, and, in the face of them, impunity persists, the report concluded. |
n Mexico, one out of every three violent attacks is directed against environmental and land defenders, mainly those who oppose energy projects, according to study.