Mexican megaproject implicated in 226 attacks against community defenders promoted in Spain, Germany, Belgium and the US

Published by Brent Patterson on July 10, 2024July 10, 2024

Video: Margherita Forni of PBI-Mexico (in green vest) speaks (starting at 35:26) at the observation mission media conference, July 27, 2023.

On June 27, El Universal Oaxaca reported: “The Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) project has been developed in Oaxaca through authoritarian methods that include cases of disappearance and forced displacement of indigenous communities, as well as a total of 226 attacks on community defenders including women and children, reveals the report of the Civilian International Observation Mission.”

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project is one of the 23 organizations that took part in the Observation Mission of July 25-27, 2023.

Educa Oaxaca, that was also part of the Observation Mission, specifies: “From May 1, 2021, to May 1, 2024, a total of 72 attacks were recorded, in which at least 226 various attacks were perpetrated against defenders.”

Significantly, the Mexican State is linked to “94 occasions out of the 72 documented attacks, with a permanent and leading presence of the Army, Navy and National Guard in the indigenous territories of the Isthmus.”

Pagina 3 adds: “At a press conference [that was held on June 27, 2024], members of the Observation Mission said that 92% of the victims of human rights belong to an indigenous people. In this context, the Mixe (Ayuujk) and Zapotec (Binnizá) peoples faced a greater number of aggressions against them.”

Further reading: On May 14, 2024, a federal judge in Mexico revoked a 46+ year prison sentence against Indigenous Binnizá land defender David Hernández Salazar, an opponent of the Interoceanic Corridor.

Now, Avispa Midia reports that the Interoceanic Corridor megaproject was promoted by Mexican officials who visited Washington, DC in June 2024 and Germany, Belgium, Portugal and Spain in May 2024.

Avispa highlights: “In these places, working meetings were held with members of the European Union, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the European Commission, as well as representatives of governments, industrial sectors and investment conglomerates.”

The article further notes: “Transnational corporations have also been targeted by the Mexican government’s actions. The Ministry of Economy reported that it initiated, since May 8, 2023, a round of actions to promote the corridor. At least 330 companies from 23 countries were hit by these actions, including Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States.”

Canadian connections to the megaproject

The Interoceanic Corridor is a megaproject that has been described by a proponent as including “two deep sea ports, railroads, highways, three airports (Minatitlán, Ixtepec and Huatulco), a gas pipeline and a fiber optic network.”

That pipeline appears to be the Jaltipan-Salina Cruz Gas Pipeline Expansion (Interoceanic Corridor Gas Pipeline). Calgary-based TC Energy is building the Puerta del Sureste/ Southeast Gateway pipeline that will connect to Jáltipan-Salina Cruz Gas Pipeline to transport gas across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the proposed Salina Cruz LNG export terminal.

The Toronto-headquartered Royal Bank of Canada and other Canadian banks are financing the US company Sempra Energy that through its Mexican subsidiary Sempra Infraestructura -a partner of TC Energy- that will develop that LNG terminal in Salina Cruz that would export gas to Europe and Asia.

And the Calgary-based railway company CPKC (formerly the Canadian Pacific Railway) has been approached by the Mexican government to participate in the interoceanic megaproject. Mexican president Lopez Obrador met with CPKC executives on May 5, 2023, in Mexico City to incorporate the company into the Tehuantepec isthmus rail corridor between Oaxaca and Veracruz states, the Maya Train, and the Mexico City-Querétaro high-speed train.

We continue to follow the findings of the Observation Mission, the concerns about attacks against community defenders, and the role of Canada in this.