On September 22, Nuria Yamada addressed the 22nd Meeting of the 63rd Session of Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
Yamada is a member of the Movement for the Defense of the Forest and Water Basins of Tancítaro (MODEBOCU) based in Tancítaro, Michoacán, Mexico.
She is currently on an advocacy tour of Europe accompanied by the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project.
Her presentation can be heard here (starting at 37:25).
Yamada stated:
“Thank you, Mr. Vice-President. I am here to speak to you on behalf of the Defenders of Human Rights in Mexico, and especially in Michoacán, in the context of mining and agricultural activities. We are the main producers of avocado in the country, and in fact we are trying to defend the forests against mega-projects of extraction.
Several of our colleagues have been made possible, in particular Maria Cruz Paz has been put in detention. She has been in prison for more than two years. For us, access to justice is almost non-existent, which leads to disappearances and other violations of our human rights.
Criminality has reached a macro scale, and it is obviously exacerbated by the activities of the organized group that lays anti-personnel mines or other explosive devices. But we should be able to aspire to a larger civic space. We also urge the legislators and relevant mechanisms to do something.
The Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists should therefore be implemented. Thank you.”
Avocados and mining
Hass avocados are grown in 31 municipalities across Michoacán, including Tancítaro, Uruapan, Tacámbaro, and Zitácuaro. These municipalities constitute the core of the country’s avocado export region.
Global News has reported that Michoacan is “Mexico’s top avocado-producing state, where organized crime groups have extorted growers and exporters”. That article adds: “The CFIA [Canadian Food Inspection Agency] said the volume of avocado imports has been generally consistent year over year, though it noted a slight increase in imports from Mexico in the past three years.”
In 2020, Canada imported 91,932.59 tons of avocados from Mexico. Overall, Canada imported 106,651 tons of avocados that year, making Mexico the top supplier of avocados to the Canadian market.
Image: “Canada imports 110+ million kg of avocados every year. 95% comes from Mexico.”
Mining
Natural Resources Canada says there are 114 Canadian mining companies in Mexico holding $13.0 billion in assets. In July 2026, Bnamericas reported: “According to the most recent figures, Canadian mining companies account for around 65% of foreign investment in the [mining]sector [in Mexico], with more than 150 active projects in the country, mainly in gold, silver, and copper.”
Key Canadian mining projects in Michoacán include Defiance Silver Corp. and its subsidiary Minera Santa Remy; Solaris Resources and Teck Cominco with the La Verde Project; and Canadian Silver Hunter Inc.
In October 2024, in an article about María Eugenia Gabriel Ruiz, El Pais reported: “Michoacán has become the deadliest Mexican territory, with eight murders recorded in 2023. Most of the victims were fighting against mining.” That article notes official figures from December 2018 that indicated there were six foreign mining companies operating in the state. All six of those companies were Canadian.
María Cruz Paz Zamora
Indigenous P’urhépecha forest defender María Cruz Paz Zamora, from the community of Ocumichom in the state of Michoacán, has been in prison since June 2024. The Supreme Council of Indigenous Women of Michoacán (CSMIM) and the Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacán (CSIM) have denounced this criminalization.
en15días reports: “One of the main questions raised by the organizations refers precisely to Paz Zamora’s first statement, when she was still participating in the investigation as a witness and, according to the statement, did not have a P’urhépecha interpreter or legal accompaniment.”
Additional reading
–PBI-Mexico amplifies RSDH call for the release of Indigenous Ocumicho environmental defender María de la Cruz (PBI-Canada, June 10, 2024)
–PBI-Mexico accompanied lawyer María Eugenia Gabriel Ruiz interviewed by El Pais, speaks about avocados and mining (PBI-Canada, October 25, 2024)
–The work continues one year after PBI-Mexico and Espacio OSC visited Ottawa to strengthen the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists (PBI-Canada, September 20, 2026).
