PBI-Mexico accompanied Ejido El Bajío stands in solidarity with Ejido Carrizalillo in struggle against Canadian mining company
Photo: Partial view of the Equinox Gold Los Filos mine in Guerrero.
The Ejido El Bajío in Sonora has posted on social media: “We stand in solidarity with #EjidoCarrizalillo in their fight against the Canadian company #EquinoxGold which is waging a campaign of violence against the community to impose a new land lease agreement. Here is the statement with details.”
The link shared by Ejido El Bajío takes us to a press release from the Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining (REMA) that explains:
“The Canadian company Equinox Gold, which operates the Los Filos mine on the lands of the community of Carrizalillo, in the municipality of Eduardo Neri, Guerrero, is imposing a new agreement for the rent of these lands. The company has been pressuring by all means so that the communities that own the land it exploits, sign a totally unfavorable and abusive agreement. The bargaining conditions imposed and the company’s ongoing targeting and stigmatization of the community now put community members at serious risk.”
Then on April 1, 2025, Mining.com reported: “[The Vancouver, British Columbia-headquartered] Equinox Gold (TSX: EQX) has announced the indefinite suspension of operations at its Los Filos mine in Guerrero, Mexico. The decision follows failed negotiations for a land access agreement with the community of Carrizalillo.”
Jennifer Moore, an Associate Fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies and former Latin America Program Coordinator at MiningWatch Canada, has commented: “Now that the agreements with Carrizalillo have expired and the company has suspended Los Filos, the community has set up camp outside the mine, having previously announced that they will seek compensation and environmental restoration of their land.”
Photo: “Ejido Carrizalillo sets up camp outside Equinox Gold’s Los Filos mine.”
On April 9, ZonaDocs reported: “The ejidatarios are preparing to intensify their legal and political strategy, hoping that the federal government will intervene to force the mining company to comply with closure procedures and compensate for the damages caused by its activity. In addition, they warn that, if an agreement is not reached, the company could try to flee the country to avoid legal consequences.”
And on April 18, Paloma Martínez Méndez of Radio Canada International (RCI) reported: “Arturo*, one of Carrizalillo’s delegates, explained to RCI that the company, through its vice president in Mexico, Armando Ortega, has acted unilaterally, imposing conditions without properly consulting the community.”
RCI also explains: “Arturo is a fictitious name. The interviewee requested anonymity for ‘security reasons’. RCI granted it after verifying his identity.”
The struggle of the Ejido El Bajío
Photo: El Bajío land defenders, September 2023.
The Ejido El Bajío has explained:
“For more than 10 years we have been fighting against the Penmont mining company, owned by the fourth richest man in Mexico, Alberto Baillères González. …The Penmont mining company has carried out exploration and mining exploitation in the territories of the ejido, illegally, since the nineties. In 2009 and 2013, the ejidatarios filed a series of agrarian lawsuits against the mining company; in July 1013, former magistrate Manuel Loya Valverde issued 44 rulings in favor of the ejido, in which he ruled that the mining company must vacate the territory, must return the lands to the state prior to the mining exploitation and must compensate the ejidatarios for the payment of land rents.”
And Peace Brigades International-UK has noted:
“In May 2021, José de Jesús Robledo Cruz, human rights defender and former Ejido President, was found murdered in the middle of the desert together with his wife, María de Jesús Gómez Vega. José de Jesús had actively opposed the activities of Minera Penmont in the region. Alongside their bodies, a list with the names of 13 other anti-mining Ejido members was found. When invited by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre to respond to the killing of José de Jesús and his wife, Minera Penmont categorically rejected that it is linked in any way with the crimes.”
Investors
Chart of investors in Fresnillo PLC.
The largest investors in Fresnillo PLC include: VanEck at a reported value of $61,301,000. in shares (with offices in New York City and Madrid, Amsterdam, Zurich), First Eagle Investments (New York City and London, Munich, Zurich), New World Fund, Inc./ managed by Capital Group (Los Angeles and London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Geneva, Zurich, Madrid, Milan, Melbourne, Montreal, Toronto), Global X (New York City) and Amplify ETFs/ sponsored by Amplify Investments (Maidstone/Kent, UK).
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International has provided security and advocacy support to members of the Ejido El Bajío due to the ongoing threats they face.
For more about the struggle of the Ejido El Bajío, see their website and their Instagram, Facebook and X social media accounts.
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