PBI-Mexico accompanies ProDESC at press conference on Gunaa Sicarú wind power megaproject

On February 26, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted, “PBI accompanies ProDESC AC in the Zapoteca community of Unión Hidalgo to observe the third session of the informative phase of the indigenous consultation on the Gunaa Sicarú wind farm. This session presents the project and deals with social and environmental impacts.”

PBI-Mexico adds, “This morning PBI also attended the press conference in Oaxaca de Juárez where recognition was given to the amparo sentence that suspends the construction of the wind power plant and denounced the alarming increase in harassment and harassment of rights defenders in the community.”

Along with this 20-minute Consorcio Oaxaca video of the press conference, ProDESC AC has commented, “We denounce pressure from the SENER [the Mexican Secretariat of Energy] and the Government of Oaxaca to violate indigenous consultation.”

ProDESC adds, “Despite the amparos granted by Judge Elizabeth Franco Cervantes, to effectively guarantee the conduct of a free, prior and informed consultation in Unión Hidalgo, Oaxaca; the Ministry of Energy, the Oaxaca government and the municipal authorities continue to press for the consultation to develop improperly, violating the rights of this Zapotec community.”

Gunaa Sicarú is a proposed 252-megawatt wind power mega-project headed by the Mexican subsidiary of the French transnational EDF (Électricité de France) that would install 96 wind turbines over 4,400 hectares of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

EDF secured certificates to pursue the project in October 2016. By May 2018, a district court judge granted a suspension of the construction of the wind park. In March 2019, the Ministry of Energy convened consultations on the project related to free, prior and informed consent. In October 2019, ProDESC visited France to denounce the wind project.

ProDESC is a member of the Focal Group of Civil Society on Business and Human Rights (Focal Group) that PBI-Mexico has accompanied since 2015.