“Oaxaca indigenous community wins ruling against Canadian miner”, 12^th February 2020

…Authorities from the indigenous community of Capulálpam de Méndez, Oaxaca, announced that they won a writ of amparo in a case against a Canadian-owned mining company operating in the town.

Communal representative and Mayor Carlos Ramón Martínez Pablo said that the town sued for amparo (protection of constitutional rights) in 2015, claiming that the company had obtained permits to exploit local mineral and precious metal deposits from the federal Secretariat of Economy without first consulting the community.

“The ruling recognizes that the indigenous community was founded before the Mexican state and therefore has the right to federal justice as established in the second article of the constitution,” Martínez said.

He added that the ruling confirmed that the mining company, Continuum Resources Mexico, also violated International Labor Organization regulations dealing with the rights of indigenous communities.

Released along with the judicial ruling was an order for closure of the mine issued by the federal environmental protection agency…

According to Archivaldo Santos, spokesperson for the Oaxacan Territory Defense Collective, there are over 330 active mining concessions in the state that were authorized without due process during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto and which are being fought in court.