Photo: Indigenous Náhuatl environmental defender Samir Flores Soberanes.
The People’s Front (in the states of) Morelos Puebla Tlaxcala has posted on social media:
“Tomorrow, February 19, Mexico City
11:00 AM Press conference
12:00 PM Political and cultural rally
Federal Ministry of the Interior
Justice for Samir and all our dead, disappeared, and imprisoned”
Their social media post includes this poster that says:
“National and International Day of Action
Justice for Samir and Self-Determination for Indigenous Peoples
30th Anniversary of the Founding of the National Indigenous Congress
February 19, 2026
11:00 AM Press Conference
12:00 PM Political and Cultural Gathering
Ministry of the Interior, Bucareli 92, Mexico City
Justice for all our dead, disappeared, and imprisoned.”
This social media post also speaks more about the cultural rally:
“#PressConference, 7 years after the murder of #SamirFlores
To free, independent, alternative #MediaOfCommunication, or whatever they’re called
To the #OfficialandPaidMedia
In the framework of National and International Days, Justice for Samir. Self-determination of the Peoples and, towards the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the National Indigenous Congress, we call for a #PressConference, and a #CulturalPoliticalRally, which will be held this Thursday, February 19 at 11:00 and 12:00 Hrs. respectively at the main door of the Secretariat of Government, CDMX.
We also invite the Collectives, Organizations, Networks, Towns, Communities and individuals to bring their canvases, blankets, music and joyful rebellion!! Let’s do the mega painting for truth and justice for Samir.
Zapata Lives, The Fight Goes On!
Samir Lives, The Fight Goes On!
Stop the war against the Zapatist Peoples and the Original Peoples!
Long live the CNI! , Long live the CIG! , Long live EZLN!”
This week, El Regional reported: “Samir Flores Soberanes was a Mexican environmental activist and communicator originally from Amilcingo, Morelos, murdered on February 20, 2019 for his environmental activity, as has already been judicially determined.”
“He was born on August 2, 1982 and became a critical voice against the Morelos Integral Project (PIM), a megaproject that included the construction of a thermoelectric plant, a gas pipeline and an aqueduct in the region. Their opposition to the PIM was due to the potential environmental and social impacts it could have on the community.”
Photo: Huexca thermoelectric plant.
“Samir founded the community radio station Amiltzinko in 2013, from where he disseminated information about the project and its consequences.”
Photo: Samir Flores at Radio Comunitaria Amiltzinko.
And it explains: “On the night of February 19, 2019, Samir attended a forum in Jonacatepec, where he questioned federal delegate Hugo Eric Flores about the PIM. The next day, around 5:30 a.m., he was shot and killed in front of his home.”
El Imparcial also reported: “According to Proceso, the Samir Flores case was taken up again by members of the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water, who held a rally in front of the Federal Judiciary building in Atlacholoaya. During the protest, they denounced a sham justice system and demanded an investigation into former officials and local authorities. Among those mentioned were Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, and Hugo Eric Flores, as well as municipal authorities from Temoac. The protesters asserted that the current legal process has not clarified who ordered the murder in the Samir Flores case.”
Photo: Samir was married to Liliana Velázquez with whom he had four children, Amira, Jenny, Mariana and Kinith.
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.”
Peace Brigades International 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 the FPDTA-MPT at march in Mexico City on the 6th anniversary of the murder of Samir Flores Soberanes (PBI-Canada, February 19, 2025).
PBI-Mexico accompanies the family of murdered Indigenous Náhuatl land defender Samir Flores Soberanes (PBI-Canada, April 23, 2024).
PBI-Mexico visits communities in Morelos and Puebla opposed to the PIM gas pipeline-thermoelectric plant-aqueduct megaproject (PBI-Canada, September 26, 2022).
Indigenous land defender killed in Mexico days before referendum on controversial gas pipeline (Brent Patterson, Rabble.ca, February 22, 2019).
