Peace Brigades International-Spanish State has posted on Instagram:
“‘This is what we are protecting: life and territory.’ Miryam Vargas of the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water (Mexico), an Indigenous Nahua communicator and announcer for Cholollán Radio.
#WomenDefenders #CommunicationForProtection #defenders #ProtectionCommunication”
As noted on the PBI-Spanish State website: “Recorded at El Palacio de Aiete in Donostia [a city located in the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain] … by journalist Olga Grande and her Radio Nómada studio.”
“It belongs to us as something inherited; it is what we are protecting: life, territory, our voices, feelings, and energies are united in this resistance to dispossession. We have had to face death threats and imprisonment for demanding justice for our comrade Samir Flores Soberanes.
As Cholollán Radio, we have had to counter the narratives that have sought to promote development and progress, completely excluding us as Indigenous peoples. My determination and commitment are for the life of my people. We must continue, and as my comrade Samir said, we will stay here until the very end.”
The People’s Front and Samir Flores Soberanes
The People’s Front is an organization of Indigenous Nahuatl communities in the states of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala, that has been working since 2012 to defend their territory and exercise their self-determination.
Samir Flores Soberanes was a member of the People’s Front, one of the founders of Amiltzinko community radio, and a land and environmental defender opposed to the Morelos Integral Project (PIM).
Flores was murdered outside his home in Amilcingo, Morelos on February 20, 2019 because of his opposition to the PIM.
Pie de Pagina explains: “The PIM is an infrastructure project designed to generate electric energy through thermoelectric plans, a gas pipeline, an aqueduct, and a network of energy transmission via high tension towers.”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International has accompanied the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water – Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala (FPDTA-MPT) since early 2020.
Additional reading:
–PBI-Canada with PBI-Mexico as it accompanies the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water at activities over four-day period (PBI-Canada, February 24, 2026)
–PBI-Mexico expresses concern about threats against Nahua defender and FPDTA-MPT member Miryam Vargas Teutle (PBI-Canada, April 18, 2025).
Video still: PBI-Mexico with Miryam Vargas Teutle, December 2023.
