Photo: PBI-Mexico was part of the Civilian Observation Mission (MCO) in July 2023 documenting concerns about this megaproject.
El Universal Oaxaca reports: “The Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) project has been developed in Oaxaca through authoritarian methods that include cases of disappearance and forced displacement of indigenous communities, as well as a total of 226 attacks on community defenders including women and children, reveals the report of the Civilian International Observation Mission.”
The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project is one of the 23 organizations in the Observation Mission, along with Union of Indigenous Communities of the Northern Isthmus (UCIZONI), the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHHRC), Services for an Alternative Education A.C. (EDUCA) and Espacio OSC.
Photo: Carlos Beas of UCIZONI at media conference, June 27.
The El Universal article further notes: “During the presentation of this report in the city of Oaxaca, the parties concluded that between May 2021 and May 2024 the Mexican State used authoritarian methods to impose the project, which is not only about a highway or a corridor, but that ‘there is a background that includes the militarization of the indigenous territories of the Oaxacan Isthmus where local and state political actors linked to organized crime have been involved in the development of the Indigenous Territory. dedicated to looking after the interests of transnational corporations.’”
Educa Oaxaca, that has been part of the Observation Mission, specifies: “From May 1, 2021, to May 1, 2024, a total of 72 attacks were recorded, in which at least 226 various attacks were perpetrated against defenders, the most recurrent being: intimidation (30%), harassment (28%), threats (10%) and physical aggression (7%). In addition, 3 homicides against Zapotec defenders were documented: Jesús Manuel Martínez (2022), Félix Vicente Cruz (2023) and Noel López Gallegos (2023).”
With respect to the perpetrators of these attacks, the Mexican State is linked to “94 occasions out of the 72 documented attacks, with a permanent and leading presence of the Army, Navy and National Guard in the indigenous territories of the Isthmus.”
Pagina 3 adds: “At a press conference, members of the Observation Mission said that 92% of the victims of human rights belong to an indigenous people. In this context, the Mixe (Ayuujk) and Zapotec (Binnizá) peoples faced a greater number of aggressions against them.”
The megaproject
The Interoceanic Corridor is a megaproject that has been described by a proponent as including “two deep sea ports, railroads, highways, three airports (Minatitlán, Ixtepec and Huatulco), a gas pipeline and a fiber optic network.”
That pipeline appears to be the Jaltipan-Salina Cruz Gas Pipeline Expansion (Interoceanic Corridor Gas Pipeline). It also appears that the gas pipeline would feed a proposed LNG export terminal in Santa Cruz.
We continue to follow the findings of the Observation Mission and the concerns about attacks against community defenders.
Published by Brent Patterson on