Video of media conference.
On October 1, El Pais reported that a suspect has been arrested in the murder of Huexca thermoelectric plant opponent Samir Flores Soberanes.
Flores was a member of the People’s Front in Defense of the Land and Water Morelos-Puebla-Tlaxcala. He was murdered on February 20, 2019.
The suspect has been identified only as Javier N.
He will have a hearing on October 6.
The article notes: “The Attorney General’s Office [FGE] has ruled out that the murder of the Nahuatl leader is linked to his campaign against the work.”
This is a claim rejected by Samir’s family and others.
The article adds: “There are two other alleged killers who have been ‘fully identified’ but are still at large, the prosecutor said.”
La Jornada further notes: “The FGE would have identified these three people since February or April 2019 but remained silent.”
“Activists said Samir’s family is not aware that [Javier N] was the one who called Samir, and if he did, they said he ‘would be the weakest link’ in the criminal organization.”
They want not just the material perpetrators of the assassination arrested, but also the intellectual authors, the ones who planned and ordered the killing.
“[The People’s Front] demanded that the case be investigated with seriousness and depth since for them the murder of their partner is for his activism against the PIM, and that if it had been that ‘simple’ [and not related to the megaproject, the authorities] would have clarified the homicide in a month or two.”
The El Pais article highlights: “After the arrest, the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has informed this Friday that his Government will start the project again.”
Juan Carlos Flores Solís, a member of the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water, comments: “This was an announcement of political opportunism and a political management of this detention is taking place since it occurs in the context of López Obrador’s visit and in the middle of the tour of Europe.”
He further notes: “This is only a small part of all the justice that must be obtained in this case, it is just the small thread that has to be pulled to see who the real culprits of Samir’s murder are. We are not willing to receive crumbs of justice to receive more injustice such as the imposition of the thermoelectric plant.”
And he says: “The appearance of justice can lead us to more injustice.”
MSN reports: “In February of this year, opponents of the Morelos Integral Project (PIM) warned that the La Huexca plant could start operating at any time in the presence of the military. In November 2020, elements of the National Guard removed a sit-in that prevented the last stretch of works.”
Now the operation of the plant may be imminent.
The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has accompanied the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water since early 2020.
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