Mexico: Local organization opposing mining activities of El Puntal denounces harassment after criticising water pollution in Chiapas
“Criminalizing Resistance: Militarization, Murder, and Extractivism in Chiapas”, 17 Oct 17
...In Chiapas…the abundance of natural resources makes the region particularly vulnerable to violent territorial control…The expansion of mining concessions…correlates with a profound increase in military presence…Acacoyagua residents organized in defense of their community and territory, forming the grassroots resistance movement called…Popular Front in Defense of Soconusco 20th of June [FPDS] . Last year [they] brought the Acacoyagua case to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources…[and] discussed the community’s health problems and showed photo evidence of water contamination and the harmful effects of chemical runoff from the Mexican-owned Casas Viejas titanium mine...Soon after, Mexican state police and El Puntal S.A., the corporation that runs Casas Viejas, began to threaten and harass members of the FPDS…