PBI-Mexico accompanies the Peoples’ Front on the 3rd anniversary of the murder of Náhuatl defender Samir Flores

On February 20, PBI-Mexico tweeted: “3 years ago, the peasant, popular communicator and defender of water and territory Samir Flores Soberanes was assassinated in front of his house. In Amilcingo and other points of #México , today he is remembered under the slogan: ‘Who fights for life, does not die, Samir lives!’”

Their Twitter thread also notes:

“For @fpdta [the Peoples’ Front in Defence of Land and Water – Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala] the murder of [water defender] Francisco Vásquez in #Morelos and the eviction from Altepelmelcalli in #Puebla near the 3rd anniversary of the murder of Samir Flores are part of: ‘A growing wave of repression against the defense of truth, justice and life.’

‘The third anniversary of the murder of our comrade Samir Flores Soberanes is framed by a series of attacks, violence and murders towards members of the peoples and journalists’ point out today the @fpdtampt [in this statement].

The @fpdtampt adds that: ‘In the fight for life is justice for Samir.’ Not a minor issue in a country and a region where the rates of persecution, criminalization, harassment, physical attacks and murders against defenders of human rights are of concern.

Therefore, we join the call to guarantee truth and justice for #SamirFlores, to guarantee the life and integrity of defenders of the environment and collective and indigenous rights.”

Samir Flores

Samir Flores Soberanes was a vocal opponent of the Morelos Integral Project (PIM).

On February 20, 2019, he was shot in his home in Amilcingo, Morelos and died later that day in hospital. He was 35 years old.

Photo: Samir was married to Liliana Velázquez with whom he had four children, Amira, Jenny, Mariana and Kinith.

The Peoples’ Front in Defence of Land and Water (FPDTA) described his murder as “a political crime for the human rights defence that Samir and the FPDTA carried out against the [PIM] and for people’s autonomy and self-determination.”

The PIM megaproject consists of a 171-kilometre gas pipeline across the states of Tlaxcala, Puebla and Morelos; a gas-fuelled thermoelectric plant in the town of Huexca, Morelos; and a 12-kilometre aqueduct to divert water from the Cuautla River to cool the turbines at the thermoelectric plant.

Toronto-based Alamos Gold

The FPDTA has stated: “[Mexican President] Lopez Obrador [supporting the PIM] betrays the peasant and the promise of change of his government, to favour transnational corporations [including] Canadian miners like Alamos Gold, among others.”

Toronto-based Alamos Gold has reportedly reactivated work on their Esperanza open-pit gold mine near the community of Tetlama (about 60 kilometres due west of Huexca). Mines can be energy-intensive and could use electricity generated by the plant.

Last month, Pie de Pagina reported: “Inhabitants of more than 16 Nahua towns and colonies of Morelos marched to protest the entry of the Canadian company Alamos Gold in the municipality of Temixco with the intention of exploiting gold and silver in an open pit.”

“Who fights for life never dies”