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Monday, May 10, 2021

Two Environmentalists Who Opposed Mine Operations in Sonora Were Killed; 13 Others Threatened

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat; TY to "Anonymous"

Police officers guard the crime scene where the bodies of environmentalists Jose de Jesus Robledo Cruz and Maria de Jesus Gomez Vega were found dead. A threatening message was left at the scene.

Unidentified individuals murdered the environmentalists José de Jesús Robledo Cruz and María de Jesús Gómez Vega, a married couple from El Bajío, a rural community in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora. They opposed the operations of Penmont mining company, a subsidiary of Grupo Peñoles.

The Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining (REMA) said that environmentalists had been victims of direct harassment and serious attacks for opposing the mining company owned by Alberto Bailleres González and Rafael Pavlovich Durazo, uncle of Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich. 

REMA says there is "no doubt" that the murder was sanctioned from the Sonoran government and by people working for Bailleres Gonzalez and Pavlovich Durazo.

The couple's bodies were dumped with a narcomessage that made threats to 13 other community landowners. People in the area had complained that Penmont illegally seized more than 1,800 hectares of land for the construction of a mining zone.

In a company statement, Penmont denied their involvement in the murder.

"Penmont categorically rejects the assertion or insinuation of any kind of link with the criminal acts of this weekend," the company said in a statement. "It rejects violence in any form and trusts the justice system with the resolution of problems."

REMA sent a message to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) asking the federal government to assume its historical responsibility of supervising the actions of the Sonora Attorney General's Office, which it complained was complicit in the murders. It also demanded more protection to the 13 landowners who were threatened.

"The death of each defender of land is a wound that the political class will not be able to heal, hide or clean," it said.

Background

The couple fought against Penmont company since 2002, when the company entered the area of Sonora where they lived. Robledo Cruz claimed that he filed several legal complaints to an agrarian court after Penmont displaced him and his family from the area. However, they were unsuccessful in court and acts of violence followed.

A year ago, the couple was kidnapped and heavily tortured, as reported by Robledo Cruz himself, on March 23, 2020, to the REMA.

Another attack suffered by Robledo Cruz occurred on September 3, 2017, when without a court order, "he was detained by hooded individuals carrying uniforms from the Mexican Army".

At that time, the attack was broadcast by the news portal Pie de Página. In Robledo Cruz testimony, he stated that that day they kidnaped him with his wife.

"They tortured me until I was almost dead. My wife suffered the same fate", he told REMA.

Sources: La Jornada; Milenio; Infobae; MND

10 comments:

  1. https://twitter.com/Narcostudios701/status/1391824822792069120?s=20

    This is the kinda stuff mainstream media doesnt show.
    But let's CJNG "fart" and its literally all over the news.

    Mexican news outlets VS CJNG

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for this article.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Everything and anything goes in Mexico.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Man, Sonora is really heating up. Especially the Carboca-Sonyota-San Luis Rio areas. Now to see it’s spreading to Puerto Penasco is concerning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. this is everyday stuff in Sonora and not every incident makes the news. keep in mind everything is bought & paid for by the crooks which means every little detail won't be publicized

      Delete
  5. Better to get the hell outta there than get killed over land. Face it, if a company wants the land bad enough they're gonna get the land sooner or later. 1 or 2 people are not going to stand in the way. whether its mining in mexico or Tesla in the USA. To top it all off, the company is connected to Pavlovich.. forget it. It's a lost cause. take the silver and move on.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Penmont categorically denies involment but is the only entity that benefits from the murders. Dig deeper and find that truth we already know.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a very intrested article, but I know more then what is being mention , I'm currently in the USA but getting ready to head south with evidence of this crime that will put many behind Bars for a long time .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One your going to be made disappeared.
      Two companies are in cahoots with the local government, companies also bribe, money talks and look what happens. You go spilling the beans, won't do nothing, you don't understand that the legal system is not alike the US, please get that through your head.

      Delete
  8. What kinda evidence??

    ReplyDelete

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