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PBI-Honduras present at International Women’s Day march in Tegucigalpa, notes UPR recommendations

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“This Sunday, March 8, International Women’s Day, we were present observing the feminist march organized by different organizations in Tegucigalpa.

The struggle of women defenders in Honduras continues to be vital for the fulfillment of rights and access to justice.

At PBI, we continue to express our concern about the high rates of violence against women and recall that, at the international level, Honduras received recommendations from the UPR to move toward the construction of a legal framework that protects women and the LGTBI+ community.

#8m #internationalwomensday #justice”

On November 7, 2025, Canada commented on the human rights situation in Honduras during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Honduras at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The UN has explained: “The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council that calls for each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4.5 years.”

Speaking on behalf of Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, Joseph Flores Ayala stated:

“Thank you, Mister President.

Canada thanks Honduras for its participation in the Universal Periodic Review. We welcome the positive steps taken by Honduras toward eliminating violence against women and girls, supporting survivors of intimate partner violence, promoting safe and dignified human mobility, and the reintegration of returnees.

Canada recommends that Honduras:

  1. Fully implement the National Protection Mechanism by establishing robust accountability measures for state authorities who fail to provide adequate protection to human rights defenders, including Indigenous rights defenders, environmental rights defenders, and journalists.
  2. Strengthen enforcement of Article 118-A of the Penal Code, which defines and penalizes femicide, by improving prevention, investigation, and prosecution of gender-based violence.
  3. Enhance the independence and integrity of the justice system by establishing a transparent judicial appointment process in line with the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary.”

We continue to follow this.

Quakers in Minnesota express concern about ICE, PBI-Canada notes role Ontario company plays in ICE operations

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Becky Flory, a member of the Twin Cities Friends Meeting and a longtime volunteer with AFSC, joined 1,000 people of faith last month at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to protest ICE deportation flights.

Jon Krieg, a regional communications specialist for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), writes: “Quakers believe in the inherent dignity of all people. But how do we live our beliefs in times of such brutal and sometimes deadly enforcement of cruel immigration policies?”

Krieg notes: “In Twin Cities, Minnesota, Quakers—alongside partners in the faith community—have refused to accept violence against immigrants in their communities. On Jan. 23, over 1,000 people of faith, led by the nonprofit group ISAIAH, held a nonviolent action at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. They were protesting ICE deportation flights—part of a wider response to the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrant communities.”

He further highlights: “In a recent letter to Northern Yearly Meeting, Stephen Snyder, clerk of Minneapolis Friends Meeting, writes: ‘Many Friends participate in organized networks such as the Immigrant Defense Network and Faith in Minnesota that train citizens in non-violent resistance and support for migrant communities. Others host refugees, volunteer in the schools, contribute to food banks, and serve in other ways.’”

AFSC supports call to halt funding to ICE

On January 27, 2026, the American Friends Service Committee along with 1,025 organizations signed a joint letter to the US Congress to express their “horror, outrage and deep grief about the news that federal agents have executed [Alex Pretti] in broad daylight on the streets of Minneapolis.”

That letter demanded: “Congress must refuse to provide one dollar to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol through the appropriations process and immediately take action to revoke the tens of billions already given through last summer’s reconciliation bill.”

ICE deploys armoured vehicles made by Ontario company

Just weeks prior to that AFSC call for a funding freeze, ICE signed a contract for about CAD $10 million with an Ontario company.

On December 2, 2025, the Canadian Press reported: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earmarked millions of dollars for a bulk order for 20 armoured vehicles from Canadian defence manufacturer Roshel… The justification for the sole-source order was published in a partially redacted document on a U.S. federal procurement website on Nov. 26, and the site says a contract was awarded on Nov. 28.”

It was just a few days later, on December 1, 2025, that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota.

Then on January 6, 2026, the DHS announced this operation would send as many as 2,000 agents to the area.

If the contract was awarded to Roshel by the Department of Homeland Security on November 28, 2025, and the order was to be completed within 30 days, that would put the delivery date around December 26-27, 2025.

On January 28, 2026, the Canadian Press reported: “Asked what he makes of criticism of Canadian companies providing vehicles and other infrastructure to ICE, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Tuesday [January 27] that he would ‘let the respective Canadian companies answer that question’.”

US, Roshel at CANSEC

In June 2025, under the Trump Administration, the United States Embassy in Ottawa posted on Instagram: “Deputy Chief of Mission Marybeth Turner led the U.S. delegation to #CANSEC, Canada’s top defense, security, and emerging technology event.”

It is possible that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could also participate in some way.

Roshel is both a sponsor and an exhibitor at CANSEC.

PBI-Canada continues to highlight the relationship between the export of “military goods”, arms and technology and the impact those have on organizations, social movements, human rights defenders and communities.

Photo-journal of PBI-Canada visit with PBI projects and accompanied defenders in Mexico and Honduras

By
Brent Patterson
-

Top photo: Thursday February 19, Mexico City.

MEXICO

Thursday February 18, arriving in Mexico City.

ARTICLE: PBI-Canada with PBI-Mexico as it accompanies the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water at activities over four-day period.

Thursday February 19, Mexico City.

Friday February 20, Amilcingo.

Saturday February 21, Cholula, Calpan.

Sunday February 22, San Miguel Xoxtla.

Monday February 23, arriving back in Mexico City.

Tuesday February 24, Mexico City.

ARTICLE: PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico meet with Espacio OSC, Front Line Defenders and Comite Cerezo in Mexico City.

Thursday February 26, Mexico City.

Friday February 27, Mexico City.

ARTICLE: PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico meet with the Embassy of Canada in Mexico to highlight the need to strengthen the Protection Mechanism.

HONDURAS

ARTICLE: Photo-journal of PBI-Canada with PBI-Honduras accompanying COPINH on the 10th anniversary of the sowing of Berta Caceres.

Sunday March 1, La Esperanza.

Monday March 2, Tegucigalpa.

Tuesday March 3, Tegucigalpa.

ARTICLE: PBI-Canada and PBI-Honduras meet with the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) in Tegucigalpa.

Tuesday March 3, Tegucigalpa.

ARTICLE: PBI-Canada and PBI-Honduras visit with ARCAH and learn about the struggle to save the Choluteca River.

Wednesday March 4, Tegucigalpa.

Last morning in the PBI-Honduras house, about to head home.

Follow-up actions emerging from this visit with PBI projects and accompanied defenders in Mexico and Honduras:
2-Webinar in late-April/early-May with Espacio OSC on the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists before the Canada-Mexico Dialogue on Human Rights and Trilateral Affairs in the second-half of May.
3-Continued communication with Front Line Defenders on issues in the Americas as well as Wet’suwet’en and Gitanyow territories in Canada.
4-Research of interest to the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC).
5-Webinar with the CNTC (at a strategic moment for the CNTC).
6-Meeting with Global Affairs Canada in March to discuss strengthening the Protection Mechanisms in Mexico and Honduras.
7-Strengthened relationships and social media amplification of these accompanied struggles.
8-Webinar in August/September with returning Canadian volunteer from PBI-Mexico.

PBI-Canada and PBI-Honduras visit with ARCAH and learn about the struggle to save the Choluteca River

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 3, PBI-Honduras and PBI-Canada visited with the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH) in the village Loarque, a community has been affected by the pollution caused by the poultry company El Cortijo, including the contamination of the Choluteca River.

ARCAH has now posted on social media: “Yesterday we received in Aldea Loarque a delegation from PBI Honduras who observed the situation of the Choluteca River and listened to community stories about the fight against pollution generated by the El Cortijo Poultry Company. We recognize the work of PBI Honduras, who have been with us on the territory since 2021.”

Choluteca River

In January 2023, PBI-Honduras posted on social media: “Last week we visited again with ARCAH the community of Loarque. The Choluteca River and the people living around it in Tegucigalpa are heavily affected by the pollution, including the children who study in a school located nearby, as well as livestock. Since 2017, the year in which the poultry company ‘El Cortijo’ installed a chicken processor, people residing in the area are struggling to safeguard their health due to toxic waste and bad smells.”

In April 2024, the HCH TV channel reported: “Residents of the Loarque sector came out to defend the Choluteca River because they claim that a company in the sector is destroying it. …The residents denounce that this company is causing them discomfort in their nose and skin as a result of the contamination. They hope that authorities will regulate this company that operates in this sector.”

At that time El Heraldo also noted: “The demonstrators claim that the Choluteca River, which passes through the sector, is being affected by waste, so they demand the intervention of environmental authorities.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH) since September 2022.

PBI-Canada and PBI-Honduras meet with the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) in Tegucigalpa

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 3, PBI-Honduras and PBI-Canada met with Franklin Almendares, General Secretary, and Rosa Santamaría, member of the National Board of Directors, of the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) at their office in Tegucigalpa.

The CNTC is affiliated with the Unified Confederation of Honduran Workers (CUTH) which in turn is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), along with 150+ labour organizations including the Canadian Labour Congress.

PBI-Honduras has previously posted in an article: “For Rosa, both women defenders of land and territory and the wives of defenders are extremely vulnerable. They have to face the struggle whether they want to or not and if their husband has been killed or imprisoned, then they can defend their land, their crops and their home alone, as well as take care of their children.”

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the union since May 2018.

You can find out more about the CNTC on their website and on Facebook and Instagram.

Photo: PBI-Honduras with Franklin Almendares, General Secretary, National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC).

Photo-journal of PBI-Canada with PBI-Honduras accompanying COPINH on the 10th anniversary of the sowing of Berta Caceres

By
Brent Patterson
-

Berta Cáceres, an Indigenous Lenca environmental defender and the co-founder of the Civic Organization of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) was shot by assassins in her home in La Esperanza on the evening of March 2, 2016. She died in the early hours of March 3, 2016.

Cáceres was killed for defending the Gualcarque River, where the company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA) intended to build the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam without free, prior and informed consent.

The Spanish news agency EFE reports: “In November 2024, the Honduran Supreme Court of Justice ratified the sentences against seven convicted of the murder of Cáceres and the attempted murder of Mexican environmentalist Gustavo Castro, who was the only witness, as he was a guest of the indigenous leader that day.”

But while the material perpetrators have been prosecuted, the intellectual, political and business authors have not been brought to justice.

The Madrid-based Vida Nueva reports: “COPINH points to several members of the Atala family, owners of the dam, demanding that the investigation go further. On the 10th anniversary of the events, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) has wanted to contribute to this, which has published an extensive report in which it denounces that the murder ‘was carried out by a structure in which hitmen and paramilitaries participated, as well as personnel and directors of the DESA company, in addition to counting on the omission of the State of Honduras by not guaranteeing the rights to life and personal integrity of the Berta Cáceres’.”

COPINH’s coordinators, including Berta’s daughter Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres, have been accompanied by Peace Brigades International since May 2016.

On March 1, 2026, PBI-Honduras posted on social media: “Today, we talk about Berta. Berta, defender of water, earth, life. Berta, who multiplied and is still alive in the hearts and actions of millions of people. This weekend, we accompany Copinh Honduras [the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras] in the tenth anniversary of the sowing of Berta Cáceres. Ten years without Berta. Ten years without justice. But also ten years holding on to the hope that one day the Gualcarque River will be free and the rights of the Lenca people will be respected.”

And on March 4, PBI-Honduras also posted on social media: “On Monday, together with @pbicanada, we accompanied @copinh in Tegucigalpa during the mobilization for the anniversary of the assassination of Lenca leader Berta Cáceres. On the same day, we brought our concerns and recommendations related to this case to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, reflected in the following words: ‘In Honduras, 10 years after the murder of defender Berta Cáceres, it is concerning that foreign investments in extractive projects continue to contribute to violence. A Group of Independent Experts from the IACHR concluded that financing from international development banks was used for the murder of the leader and to monitor her organization, COPINH. We urge the UN to ensure compliance with the expert group’s reparation plan, including prosecuting corporate responsibility for the murder, revoking the hydroelectric project, granting title to the ancestral territory of Río Blanco, and reforming the National Protection Mechanism.’”

Along with these PBI-Honduras social media posts, here are some news excerpts to provide context and additional photos taken by PBI-Canada.

SUNDAY MARCH 1 – morning gathering in Utopia, La Esperanza.

EFE reports: “[Bertha Zuniga Caceres, the daughter of Berta, stated] that several activities began on Sunday, the first in La Esperanza ‘to demand the process of justice and to continue bringing the memory and thought of Bertha Cáceres,’ who was the coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) and opposed a hydroelectric project because it was causing environmental damage.”

Bertha speaking at the gathering.

Gustavo Castro.

Afternoon, ceremony in the cemetery, La Esperanza.

Berta’s children Salvador, Bertha and Laura.

Cultural evening at Utopia, La Esperanza

MONDAY MARCH 2 – morning, getting on the buses at Utopia, La Esperanza

Morning, protest outside an Atala related business in Tegucigalpa.

Morning march on the highway to the Supreme Court of Justice.

Morning, rally at the Supreme Court.

EFE reports: “The tenth anniversary of the murder of Honduran environmentalist Bertha Cáceres was commemorated on Monday [March 2] in Tegucigalpa with protests in front of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, in which her daughters Bertha and Laura Zúniga demanded justice against the intellectual authors of the crime.”

Afternoon, rally at the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office).

EFE reports: “During the protest in front of the Prosecutor’s Office, the demonstrators made a pedagogical exercise of justice because, according to Zúniga, ‘it seems that the Honduran authorities are afraid to initiate an action and a requirement, it seems that they do not have the necessary commitment to set a precedent of justice not only for this country, but a precedent of justice for the world.’ For her part, her sister Laura said that in spaces such as the Prosecutor’s Office, they are denied entry and justice, and the authorities ‘refuse to investigate the murderers’ of their colleagues.”

TeleSURtv.net adds: “Bertha Zúniga, current coordinator of COPINH, said that a decade after her mother’s planting, which occurred on March 2, 2016 in La Esperanza, Intibucá, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has pending the execution of key fiscal requirements. ‘That is the requirement and the specific request that we have in the Public Prosecutor’s Office,’ Zúniga stressed, referring to the identification of those who planned the murder.”

TeleSURtv.net adds: “Laura Zúniga denounced that the institutions of the State continue to close the doors to the families of the victims: ‘We are doing an exercise of collective and organized justice, we are doing an exercise of memory because we are here remembering our comrade Bertha and our comrades and comrades who have fallen,’ she stressed.”

We continue to follow this.

Video: On March 8, 2016, people gathered in front of the Embassy of Honduras in Ottawa, Canada to demand justice just days after the murder of Cáceres. PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson participated in that gathering and was in Honduras ten years later for this commemoration of Berta’s life.

PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico meet with the Embassy of Canada in Mexico to highlight the need to strengthen the Protection Mechanism

By
Brent Patterson
-

Representatives from Peace Brigades International teams in Canada and Mexico met with officials from the Embassy of Canada in Mexico today.

A key point of discussion was the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in Mexico.

In January 2024, during the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Mexico, the Government of Canada called on the Government of Mexico to: “Strengthen, from an intersectional and gender perspective, the federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, specifically in the areas of prevention, protection, investigation, and reparation.”

In September 2025, just after Canadian prime minister Mark Carney visited Mexico, PBI-Mexico accompanied two human rights defenders from the Espacio OSC to Ottawa to highlight and discuss this recommendation.

Now, in February 2026, PBI-Canada is visiting Mexico with the same message to coincide with the Team Canada Trade Mission to Mexico.

With the recent abduction of ten Mexican workers from the Vancouver-based Vizsla Silver Corp mine in Mexico less than five weeks ago, and with more than 61,000 Canadians in Mexico and the disruption that followed the killing by the Mexican military of Jalisco cartel leader El Mencho, security is a key issue.

We are aware that just as Canadian companies can face extortion from cartels in Mexico, land and environmental defenders and journalists who oppose extractive megaprojects can face threats and violence from cartels that want those projects to move forward as a source of extortion revenue.

We believe that tools such as the Protection Mechanism and the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) need to be strengthened and that the Government of Canada’s “Voices at Risk: Canada’s Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders” need to be implemented.

Canada in Mexico

The Globe and Mail has reported: “[Mexico has] proven an attractive destination for Canadian foreign direct investment, which totalled $46-billion in 2024. More than 60 Canadian auto parts companies and nearly 140 Canadian mining companies operate in Mexico. And a number of Canada’s largest businesses have a sizable footprint in the country [including] TC Energy Corp. [that] has over US$11-billion invested in 3,600 kilometres of natural gas pipelines in Mexico…”

That article further notes: “Companies such as Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. are betting on this growth. One reason CP bought the Kansas City Southern Railway in 2021 was to create a continental network that encompassed Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.” In May 2023, Bnamericas reported that the Government of Mexico had invited Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) to participate in the Maya Train and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec isthmus rail corridor between Oaxaca and Veracruz states.

Mining.com has also reported: “Mexico and Canada will present an joint action plan on minerals, infrastructure and supply chains in the second half of the year, Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said after meeting with Canada’s Minister of Trade, Dominic LeBlanc, in Mexico City. ‘We are preparing during the next month the action plan between Mexico and Canada in order to expand investment, increase commerce, reduce regulatory difficulties or obstacles, and facilitate investment,’ Ebrard told journalists. He also said a delegation of Mexico’s finance ministry will visit Canada to continue conversations, without providing a date.”

Upcoming webinar prior to Mexico-Canada Dialogue

Look for a webinar in late-April or early-May where we will continue to amplify this message in advance of the Mexico-Canada Dialogue on Human Rights and Multilateral Issues that will take place in Ottawa in the second half of May 2026.

Further reading: Secretary of State Randeep Sarai links aid with trade prior to Team Canada Trade Mission to Mexico (PBI-Canada article, February 4, 2026).

WEBINAR: Learn about joining the PBI-Mexico field team, March 9

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Canada is organizing with PBI-Mexico a webinar on Monday March 9 at 3 pm EST (1 pm in Mexico City) about the application process to be a field volunteer.

You can register for the webinar here.

The application form for apply to join the team is here. Applications are being accepted until March 15.

Hear from the PBI-Mexico team about what it’s like to be a field volunteer! Hear about the work of PBI-Mexico accompanying human rights defenders! Bring your questions!

Register for this webinar today.

PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico meet with Espacio OSC, Front Line Defenders and Comite Cerezo in Mexico City

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Francisco Cerezo Contreras (Comite Cerezo), Brent Patterson (PBI-Canada), Manuel Jabonero Prieto (PBI-Mexico).

Over the last two days, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has facilitated meetings for PBI-Canada with Espacio OSC, Front Line Defenders and the Cerezo Committee in Mexico City.

Espacio OSC

The Space for Civil Society Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC) is currently made up of 13 national organizations and is accompanied by Peace Brigades International.

One of their objectives is to: “Promote the operability and effectiveness of the Protection Mechanism to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders and journalists.”

Less than two weeks ago, Mario Hurtado Cardozo, Héctor Hugo Arreola Galván and Elizabeth Guadalupe Mosqueda Rivera participated in this webinar on strengthening the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists.

And Elizabeth and Hugo met with representatives from all five of Canada’s parliamentary parties while in Ottawa in September 2025.

You can find out more about the work of Espacio OSC from their website and on Bluesky, Instagram and X.

FLD Américas

We also met with Sandra Patargo, the Protection Coordinator for the Americas for Front Line Defenders.

As noted on their website: “Front Line Defenders (FLD) is an international human rights organization founded in Dublin in 2001, with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk (HRDs).”

They also note: “As identified by human rights defenders themselves, FLD responds to protection and security needs by providing support through grants, capacity building, visibility, networking, and advocacy, at the international, regional and local levels.”

You can find out more about the work of Front Line Defenders from their website and on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook and X.

Comite Cerezo

And we met with Francisco Cerezo Contreras of the Cerezo Committee.

After our meeting, Francisco posted on social media: “We were visited by Brent Patterson from Peace Brigades International-Canada. We had a very pleasant conversation about the human rights situation in Mexico and about our organization, its origins, and where we are currently. The host was Peace Brigades International – Mexico Project. Thank you both for everything.”

As noted on the Comite Cerezo website: “We are a solidarity collective of volunteer work, dedicated to the defense of the Human Rights of victims of repression for political reasons in Mexico.” Their Facebook page also notes: “We are an independent organization that defends and promotes human rights in Mexico since August 13, 2001.”

The Comité Cerezo was founded after the arrest of three Cerezo brothers, Alejandro, Héctor and Antonio. They were sent to a maximum-security federal prison, suffering physical and psychological torture. Francisco, family members and allies formed the Comité Cerezo to fight for their liberation.

This PBI project information bulletin that interviewed Francisco in March 2005 notes: “PBI has been accompanying Emiliana and Francisco Cerezo Contreras, members of the Cerezo Committee, since February 2002.”

You can find out more about the work of the Cerezo Committee from their website and on Facebook and X.

Additional reading

PBI-Mexico accompanies Cerezo Committee and families in the call to find Edmundo Reyes and Gabriel Cruz (April 6, 2024)

PBI-Mexico accompanies march in solidarity with the disappeared during the Mendez Arceo National Human Rights Award in Cuernavaca (May 21, 2025)

PBI-Mexico concerned Cerezo Committee on list the Ministry of National Defence targeted with Pegasus spyware (October 4, 2022).

Human rights defenders, journalists and searchers continue to be at risk as the security situation becomes “more normalized” in Mexico

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project is one of fourteen organizations participating in the Space of Civil Society Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC).

Following the killing of Jalisco cartel leader El Mencho, Espacio OSC posted on social media: “In light of the violence recorded since yesterday in various federal entities, organizations are documenting and supporting risk situations for #human rights defenders and journalists. To contact and activate support: @article19mxca @prensacimac @RedDefensorasMx.”

On the day that El Mencho was killed, Article 19, which is a member of the Espacio OSC, documented: “8 attacks against the press during today’s day of blockades and violent incidents in various states of Mexico. The attacks committed in Guanajuato (2), Jalisco (2), Tamaulipas (2), Michoacán (1), and Sinaloa (1) are linked to organized crime groups or unidentified individuals. One additional attack, which occurred in Nayarit, is currently in the process of being documented.”

A “more normalized” situation

On February 23, Cameron MacKay, the Canadian ambassador to Mexico, told CBC News: “We’re absolutely going in the right direction of stabilization after yesterday’s obviously very dramatic events.”

And yesterday, February 24, Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand stated: “The long and the short of it is the situation is becoming more normalized. We should continue to see this trajectory unfolding. The situation needs to be closely monitored as we are doing with our consular officials on the ground in Mexico.”

40 human rights defenders killed in 2025

La Jornada quoted Amnesty International Mexico stating: “These events occur in a context where human rights defenders, journalists and women searchers face alarming levels of aggressions, disappearances and murders.”

This week the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations ‘All Rights for All’ (Red TDT), which is also a member of Espacio OSC, stated that 40 human rights defenders had been killed in 2025.

Red TDT further noted that 12 of those killed were searchers searching for their missing relatives. They noted that most of the cases of those killed happened in Jalisco, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Michoacán.

Espacio OSC has also documented that 205 human rights defenders and journalists have been killed in Mexico between 2016 and 2025.

Canada in Mexico

The context also includes the abduction on January 23 of ten Mexican national employees of the Vancouver-based Vizsla Silver Corp. Panuco mining project in Sinaloa. By February 9, five of those workers were identified among ten bodies found in a clandestine grave in a community near the mine.

Less than a week after that a “Team Canada Trade Mission” with more than 370 delegates, including two cabinet ministers, began in Mexico City. And only two days after the trade mission visited Monterrey and Guadalajara, Global Affairs Canada advised Canadians to “exercise a high degree of caution” in those states.

After the killing of the workers at the Canadian mine in Sinaloa, Agence France-Presse reported: “[The Canadian minister responsible for North American trade, Dominic] LeBlanc said that security should be a priority and announced that the Canadian Royal Mounted Police plans to double the number of officials who work in the Canadian Embassy in Mexico this year.”

But The Los Angeles Times also reported on insecurity for communities and environmental defenders. It noted: “The mine workers’ disappearance in late January brought more troops into the mountains as they searched by air and on the ground for signs of them. …Roque Vargas, a human rights activist for people displaced by violence in the area, said that ‘all of the hubbub has scattered the organized crime guys’ but he worries they could return. He and others are also concerned about being mistaken for bad guys and attacked by security forces when they leave their town, because it has happened elsewhere in the state. ‘We’ve practically been abandoned’, he said.”

Extortion against companies, armed groups silence opponents

Significantly, the LA Times article further highlighted: “Mines, along with other businesses like avocado groves and pipelines carrying gasoline, have long attracted organized crime’s attention in Mexico as a source of extortion payments or to steal the extracted material. [Security analyst David] Saucedo, who has researched cases in Guanajuato, Sinaloa and Sonora, said he has also seen cases where mines take advantage of armed groups to control mine opponents.”

That article also notes: “The Mexican government has said it has no reports that Vizsla was extorted. [Mexican president Claudia] Sheinbaum said that her administration would talk with all mining companies in Mexico ‘to offer the support they require.’”

El Sol de Hermosillo columnist Gustavo Álvarez has also noted: “President Sheinbaum has been emphatic in pointing out that, during the meeting with the Canadian delegation, no business representative formally denounced extortion, rent collection or pressure from organized crime…”

But Álvarez comments: “Many companies choose to handle these situations [of extortion by organized crime] discreetly, working with local authorities and private security, absorbing minor losses and avoiding exposing their vulnerabilities to the public or the markets.”

Looking ahead

Two days after the killing of El Mencho and security concerns across Mexico, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce statement on the Team Canada Trade Mission made no reference to this context of instability and violence.

Mexico and Canada will reportedly present a joint action plan on minerals, infrastructure and supply chains in the second half of this year; it has also been reported that more than 35 Canadian companies will soon visit the state of Chihuahua to pursue strategic projects and investment opportunities.

With $46 billion of Canadian investment in Mexico including nearly 140 mining companies, 60 auto parts companies, and more than USD $11 billion invested in 3,600 kilometres of pipelines, there does not yet seem to be a fully developed Canadian strategy to address the security of Canadian businesses, the 55,000 Canadians currently in Mexico as tourists or on business (two of whom were injured in Jalisco cartel attacks on Sunday February 22), threats against Mexican communities, and the safety of human rights defenders, journalists and searchers.

Strengthening the Protection Mechanism

One strategy includes strengthening the existing Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists.

At the United Nations Universal Periodic Review session held on January 24, 2024, Canada recommended that Mexico: “Strengthen, from an intersectional and gender perspective, the federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, specifically in the areas of prevention, protection, investigation, and reparation.”

PBI-Canada is working with PBI-Mexico and Espacio OSC to develop strategies to help materialize this recommendation from Canada.

Further reading: Integrated protection policies needed for human rights defenders and journalists with Canadian megaprojects in Mexico: Espacio OSC (PBI-Canada article, February 16, 2026).

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