PBI-Mexico visits communities in Morelos and Puebla opposed to the PIM gas pipeline-thermoelectric plant-aqueduct megaproject

PBI-Mexico has posted:

“Opposition to extractivist projects, such as the Morelos Integral Project (PIM), has unified in resistance various towns and ejidos in Morelos and Puebla that are threatened by the privatization of natural assets and the dispossession of their lands by these megaprojects.

The PIM is a megaproject for the generation of electricity consisting of: a gas pipeline of 160 km and 30 inches in diameter that runs underground through the states of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala, two combined cycle thermoelectric plants to generate electricity using natural gas and water, and two aqueducts of 12 km: one to transport the water from the Cuautla River to the two thermoelectric plants and the other to return the liquid to the same river through the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of Cuautla, Morelos.

All this accompanied by a line of high voltage towers.

To better understand how PIM impacts communities, we toured several municipalities in the states of Morelos and Puebla, where communities that are directly affected by the project live.

The first stop on our tour to learn about the effects of the PIM was in the municipality of Ayala, Morelos, where we visited a section of the Cuautla River that allows us to witness two discharges into the river: one from the Wastewater Treatment Plant that jumps to the eye by the dark liquid that is poured into the river, and the other, of foamy discharge from the aqueduct that returns the used water from the thermoelectric plant.

From Ayala we continue the road to the east, to Huexca, Yecapixtla, Morelos. Upon arriving in the community of Huexca, the destroyed transit roads of the town were immediately noticed, as a result of the construction of the thermoelectric plant built by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

At our third stop, various artistic murals representing the resistance to the PIM welcomed us to Amilcingo, Morelos. One of the most tragic impacts of the PIM is the persecution and threat suffered by defenders of human rights, land and territory. Among the numerous cases of rape and aggression, the most devastating has been the murder of FPDTA [Peoples Front in Defence of Land and Water] member, human rights defender and social leader, Samir Flores Soberanes.

Huilotepec, Atlixco, Puebla: As we continued our way to Puebla, we met with Mr. Ángel Quintero, Ejidal Commissariat of San Isidro de Huilotepec and Juan Carlos Flores, lawyer and member of the FPDTA, who introduced us to the social and legal struggle against the megaproject.

At the last stop of the tour, we visit the industrial corridor of the municipality in Santa María Zacatepec, Juan C. Bonilla, Puebla, constituted by several textile and automotive companies, located 50 meters from the PIM gas pipeline.”

The full PBI-Mexico article can be read on their website at: Las luchas por la tierra y el territorio en la cuna de Emiliano Zapata.