Photo: “PBI Mexico volunteers in activities to accompany the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water, in the municipality of Nealtican, Puebla, October 2025.”
The most recent PBI-Mexico e-newsletter notes:
“During the months of September and October, PBI Mexico continued to accompany defenders and organizations in their work for truth, justice and the defense of the territory. Through actions in different states of the country and spaces of international articulation, we continue to contribute to the creation of safer environments for the defense of human rights.”
It adds:
“During October, we continued to strengthen the accompaniment of defenders and communities in different regions of the country, contributing to generating safer spaces for the defense of human rights.”
And highlights:
“In the state of Puebla, at the beginning of October, we participated in accompaniment activities in Nealtican and in a visit to the landfill in Cholula, following up on the environmental and human rights concerns expressed by accompanying organizations and local communities.”
In the news
On February 7, 2025, La Jornada reported: “The landfill, owned by Morena Senator Cuauhtémoc Ochoa Fernández, was closed in March of last year after complaints of contamination in the municipalities of San Pedro Cholula, San Andrés Calpan and Juan C. Bonilla. Flores Solís told La Jornada that the toxicity of the leachate endangers the aquifers of the region, located 35 meters above the ground, which supply the cholulas and part of the city of Puebla.”
On June 17, 2025, El Sol de Puebla reported: “Almost a year after its last closure, the intermunicipal garbage dump of Cholula prevails as an active source of pollution. Leachate that runs off without containment, reservoirs and deteriorated vents, added to the lack of legal certainty about their closure, exacerbate the risks to the ecosystem, crop fields, homes and, especially, to aquifers. Although three months ago the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) authorized a program to proceed with the definitive closure of this landfill, it has not been executed.”
Then on October 12, 2025, El Sol de Puebla reported: “At least three clandestine garbage dumps were reported by the auxiliary authorities of San Juan Tlautla in the municipality of San Pedro Cholula, two of these are supposedly recycling centers, however, they do not have the corresponding permits, said the municipal Secretary of the Interior, Carlos Carrillo Cortés.”
And most recently on October 26, 2025, Publimetro reported: “The City of Puebla reported that the Chiltepeque landfill has five more years of useful life and currently operates at only 40% of its capacity, so there is no risk of saturation in the short term, even with the reception of waste from neighboring municipalities after the closure of the intermunicipal landfill of Cholula.”
We continue to follow this.
Accompaniment
PBI-Mexico has accompanied the Peoples’ Front in Defence of Land and Water – Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala since early 2020.
Additional reading
PBI-Mexico accompanies Peoples’ Front in Defence of Land and Water at highway blockade at Cholula garbage dump (PBI-Canada article, March 22, 2024).
