PBI-Mexico accompanies the FPDTA-MPT at march in Mexico City on the 6th anniversary of the murder of Samir Flores Soberanes

Published by Brent Patterson on February 22, 2025February 22, 2025

PBI-Mexico has posted:

“This Friday, February 21, PBI accompanies the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala (FPDTA-MPT) in the march to claim justice in the case of Samir Flores Soberanes.

From PBI Mexico, we express our deep concern for the six years of impunity in the murder of this defender. We call on the authorities to uphold the right to truth and justice, and pledge to ensure the protection of human rights defenders. We reaffirm our commitment to continue supporting communities in their fight for self-determination and the protection of their territories.”

Mario Marlo reports in Somos el Medio:

“Six years after the murder of land defender Samir Flores Soberanes, social organizations, communities and family members marched from the Ministry of the Interior to the Zócalo [a main square in central] Mexico City as part of the ‘Global Day of Struggle: Justice for Samir Flores Soberanes’.

Photo outside the Ministry of the Interior.

With slogans such as ‘Samir Lives, the struggle goes on and on’, the demonstrators demanded justice and the clarification of his murder, which occurred in 2019.

The People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water (FPDTA) led the mobilization, carrying a bust of Samir Flores… The march culminated in the capital’s Zócalo, where a rally was held in which Liliana Velásquez, widow of Samir Flores, took the floor to demand justice and remember her husband’s legacy.

Photo of Teresa Castellanos and Liliana Velazquez at the march. Photo by Mario Marlo.

‘It is not fair that at the whim of the government, which hinders those who fight for life, fathers and mothers, children stay at home crying,’ said Liliana Velasquez, who also spoke on behalf of her children, especially her youngest son, who was just two years old when his father was murdered. ‘Today, at 8 years old, little by little the memory of his father is erased. It’s not fair,’ she added with emotion.

During the rally, Liliana Velásquez demanded that the government of Claudia Sheinbaum thoroughly investigate the case and bring those responsible to justice. ‘We demand that Hugo Eric Flores, President López Obrador’s envoy to operate the PIM consultation, and the former governor of Morelos Cuauhtémoc Blanco be investigated,’ she declared.

In addition, she denounced that one of the alleged members of an organized crime group in Morelos, linked to the case, enjoys privileges in his detention, which shows the lack of political will to punish the culprits.

‘The greatest justice for Samir will be to continue fighting from our spaces and not forget him,’ said Velásquez, who thanked the support of the organizations, communities and people present at the march. ‘Samir has been a seed, and his fight is still alive,’ she concluded.”

This article can be read at A seis años del asesinato de Samir Flores, organizaciones y comunidades marchan exigiendo justicia en la CDMX.

And El Universal reported:

“Activists pointed out that the Morelos Integral Project [the PIM] is high risk and includes a thermoelectric plant in Huexca and a mega gas pipeline that would cross Popocatepetl [an active stratovolcano] and the states of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala: ‘The thermoelectric plant would leave dozens of towns without water and pollute the air and the remaining water. The pipeline would be a time bomb running through a highly seismic area,’ they warned.

The groups expressed that [the murder of Samir] is added to a list of more than 200 defenders of the territory and the rights of the peoples, especially the CNI [National Indigenous Congress], in recent years.

Video still from CNI.

They also marched for their missing sisters and brothers [including the 43 students from Ayotzinapa], in the fight against the ‘Military Train wrongly called Maya’ and against the interoceanic corridor [linked to the recent murder of three members of UCIZONI]. As well as against xenophobia and forced migration, against the mine, the dam, fracking, the real estate cartel and the garbage business, as they indicated.

‘Justice, in the struggle for the defense of rivers, seas and bodies of water, of forests and autonomous spaces on land or in the air. Justice! it is what Samir built during his life.’”

This article can be read at “Ni perdón ni olvido, Samir Flores vive”: protestan por asesinato de activista; acusan a AMLO de lavarse las manos.

Accompaniment

At PBI-Canada we continue to highlight that the FPDTA-MPT has linked the PIM megaproject to Toronto-based Alamos Gold and its Esperanza mine. In November 2020, they posted: “[Mexican president] Lopez Obrador’s [support for the PIM] betrays the peasant and the promise of change of his government, to favour transnational corporations [including] Canadian miners like Alamos Gold.”

PBI-Mexico has accompanied the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala (FPDTA-MPT) since early 2020.

Further reading: PBI-Mexico accompanies activities in Amilcingo on the 6th anniversary of the murder of Indigenous Nahua defender Samir Flores Soberanes (PBI-Canada, February 21, 2025).