The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has posted its “Activity Bulletin August–September 2026” on Instagram.
That 12-slide report includes this text: “Michoacán: We accompanied the Movement for the Defense of the Forest and Water Basins of Tancítaro (Modebocu) during the protest at City Hall in defense of Pico de Tancítaro.”
That was on September 2, 2026.
Pico de Tancítaro, also known as Volcán Tancítaro, is a volcanic mountain. This article published in July 2026 by the Biodiversity and Conservation journal suggests that avocado production has triggered the loss of extensive forested areas including overlapping areas such as the Pico de Tancítaro.
The Movement for the Defense of the Forest and Water Basins of Tancítaro (Modebocu) is a community-based organization dedicated to socio-environmental monitoring, the accompaniment of citizen projects of public interest and mediation between the local population and agricultural producers.
About three weeks after this accompaniment, PBI-Mexico accompanied Nuria Yamada, a member of Modebocu, when she addressed the 22nd Meeting of the 63rd Session of Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
Her presentation began: “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.”
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.
And Natural Resources Canada says there are 114 Canadian mining companies in Mexico holding $13.0 billion in assets. 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.
We continue to follow the situation in Michoacán and the work of the Movement for the Defense of the Forest and Water Basins of Tancítaro (Modebocu).
Additional reading
–PBI-Mexico accompanied defender Nuria Yamada speaks about mining, avocados, the Protection Mechanism and Maria Cruz Paz at the UN in Geneva (PBI-Canada, September 23, 2026)
–Unholy Guacamole: Deforestation, Water Capture, and Violence Behind Mexico’s Avocado Exports to the U.S. and Other Major Markets (Climate Rights International, November 2023).
