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