PBI-Mexico accompanies family of Náhuatl land defender Samir Flores on the fifth anniversary of his murder
On February 20, PBI-Mexico posted:
“It has been 5 years since the murder of Samir Flores. We remember Samir as one of the referents of the work in defense of #human rights and indigenous peoples in Mexico. From @PBI_Mexico we accompany his family today in the community of Amilcingo.”
Latinus has noted: “On February 20, 2019, Samir woke up at 5:00 a.m., as usual, to go to community radio and do his daily morning show. When he was getting dressed, he was knocked by someone at the door of his house. He went out and after talking for a few minutes he was killed.”
Today, La Jornada reports: “Five years after the murder of activist Samir Flores Soberanes, his family members and comrades of the People’s Front in Defense of Land, Water and Air of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala demanded justice from federal and state authorities for this crime perpetrated in the town of Amilcingo, municipality of Temoac.”
Photo: March in tribute to Samir Flores in Amilcingo, with the presence of his wife Liliana Velázquez. Photo by Daniela Rea.
That article adds: “Samir’s comrades in struggle, along with those close to him, participated yesterday in a mass in his memory; They laid flowers and candles outside his home – where he was shot dead in 2019 – and then went to the local community radio station, where he worked as an announcer. Later they visited the primary school that bears his name, where students and teachers paid tribute in his honor, and finally arrived at the cemetery where the remains of the environmental defender are buried.”
Pie de Pagina further notes: “The tribute was dedicated to his mother Epifanía Soberanes, his father Cirino Nabor Flores and his wife, Liliana Velásquez, as well as their 4 children.”
Photo: Samir was married to Liliana Velázquez with whom he had four children, Amira, Jenny, Mariana and Kinith.
The People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water (FPDTA-MPT) also issued a statement that denounced the lack of significant progress in the investigation into the murder of Flores.
Somoselmedio reports: “The FPDTA-MPT denounced that the investigation into Samir’s participation in the struggle against the Morelos Integral Project [that includes a gas pipeline, thermoelectric plant, and aqueduct to take water from the river to cool the turbines in the thermoelectric plant] and his work as an indigenous communicator was ignored by the Morelos Prosecutor’s Office for more than four years. It was only thanks to the pressure exerted by the people that this aspect of the case was brought to the attention of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) in August 2023.”
“The FPDTA-MPT also highlighted the close relationship between organized crime and the imposition of megaprojects such as the Morelos Integral Project, as well as other similar projects throughout the country, including the Interoceanic Corridor and the Mayan Train [open-pit mining and the dispute over Nahua territory in Santa María Ostula].”
The statement also notes: “The FPDTA-MPT announced that in the coming days it will present a detailed report on the human rights violations caused by the Morelos Integral Project, urging dissemination, coverage and public support.”
And it concludes: “Although we no longer believe in this capitalist system of government, we demand and will continue to demand punishment of those responsible.”
The map of the line of inquiries as well as the FPDTA-MPT media statement can be read here.
PBI-Mexico has accompanied the Peoples’ Front since early 2020.
