We condemn the flooding of the Guarijío people's lands in Mexico and the death threats against Jesús Armando Haro Encinas.

From the CLACSO Working Group Indigenous peoples and extractive projects We express our firm rejection of the flooding, which began on July 8, of the lands of the Macurawe (Guarijío) people in the State of Sonora, Mexico. This flooding is severely impacting their lives and their relationship with the land. The flooding is being carried out by the "Los Pilares" dam, which has failed to conduct a genuine consultation process to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of the communities. This consent is a commitment of the Mexican State, in force since its ratification of Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization in 1990. This flooding is proceeding despite the initial commitment to a consultation process, the precautionary measures filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the complaints filed with the National Human Rights Commission, and the ruling by the Third Collegiate Court of the Fifth Circuit in favor of the Macurawe people, protecting their collective right to consultation.

The “Los Pilares” dam is part of the state megaprojects undertaken during the administration of former Sonora Governor Guillermo Padrés Elías, who was imprisoned from November 2016 to February 2019 on charges of organized crime, tax fraud, and money laundering. It is worth noting that during his administration, he illegally constructed a private dam on his property, “Rancho Nuevo Pozo,” and persecuted and imprisoned defenders of the Yaqui River's water rights. Along with other water projects in the state, the construction of the “Los Pilares” dam has been plagued by allegations of corruption, bribery of traditional authorities, and the lack of a consultation protocol, thus denying respect for the territorial rights of the Guarijío people. However, the Federal government under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador approved the project and revived the neoliberal logic of appropriating water for the benefit of the agro-industrial sector of the Mayo River irrigation district, causing the fragmentation of the Macurawe people's territory and community ties, as well as environmental and cultural damage.

We demand that the Mexican State stop the flooding of the Macurawe-Guarijío territory and fulfill its commitment to properly consult with the communities so that they can exercise their right to prior, free and informed consent.

We also express our condemnation of the death threats and harassment being suffered by Jesús Armando Haro Encinas, an academic at El Colegio de Sonora and a member of our Working Group, for his defense of the rights of the Guarijío people. He serves as an advisor to the communities, at their request, regarding the “Los Pilares” dam. It should be noted that Armando Haro was already the victim of similar threats in 2013, with a high personal and familial cost.

We demand that the State of Mexico adopt the necessary protection measures to ensure the psychological, physical, and spiritual integrity of the academic Jesús Armando Haro Encinas.

We reject both the flooding of Guarijío lands in Mexico and other extractive operations in Latin America in the context of a pandemic that prevents communities from exercising their right to organize and make free and informed decisions about extractive projects and to exercise their right to social protest. We denounce the fact that many governments in the region are taking advantage of the pandemic to advance their extractive agendas.

We reject the death threats and murders of indigenous and non-indigenous people who defend Mother Earth in Latin America and demand that the States of the region provide them with protection.

August 2020
CLACSO Working Group
Indigenous peoples and extractive projects

This statement expresses the position of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Projects and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.