Guerrero

Increased indigenous displacement within Mexico and its connections to mining operations in Guerrero

Posted on by Ashley Ashley Ahrens-Viquez

08/28/20 (written by cmurray)

Indigenous Displacement in Mexico

Over the past decade, as violent crime continues to rise in Mexico, large numbers of individuals have become victims of internal displacement with 7,100 new displacements being recorded between January 1 and December 31, 2019. Many of the reported displacements have been the result of land disputes, initiated by private companies and enforced by organized crime groups (OCGs) eager to mine precious metals within Mexico. The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos, CMDPDH) estimates that 310,527 individuals have been victims of internal displacement within Mexico between 2009 and January of 2017. Subsequent data released by the CMDPDH states that an additional 20,000 people within Mexico had been displaced in 2017, with 60% of them being indigenous peoples (Minority Rights). As of December 31, 2019, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre recorded that the total number of internally-displaced individuals in Mexico rose to 345,000. 

Escalating Tensions within Guerrero 

Indigenous displacement has become a pressing issue in the state of Guerrero, with an estimated 9,000 inhabitants having fled their homes between 2017 and 2018. This massive dispersal of individuals spans across 37 towns in 11 municipalities and has been attributed to an increased presence of organized crime within the state. According to Manuel Olivares, the Director of the José María Morelos y Pavón Regional Center for the Defense of Human Rights in Guerrero (Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos “José María Morelos y Pavón”), this phenomenon of indigenous displacement has been taking place since 2011 but has escalated in the past several years. Olivares also states that mining companies eager to conduct business in Guerrero ally themselves with OCGs as a way to assure their presence within the region. Moreover, OCGs  have learned that a more diversified revenue stream can bolster their regional control, with many of them claiming that mining has replaced heroin in the fight for power. Although the mining companies pay the local communities, the residual environment becomes uninhabitable as a result of the harmful emissions and pollutants. 

The Case of Carrizalillo

The community of Carrizalillo, located in the center of Guerrero, is situated in a region abundant with precious metals and became a major mining hub in 2003 after private companies were allowed temporary rights to the land. In 2006, corporations began mining at “El Bermejal” and the various chemicals used for gold extraction, such as sodium cyanide, began negatively affecting the surrounding environment as well as the 252 families living in the area. Tensions began to rise when the Carrizalillo residents realized that the land had been purchased illegally under agrarian law. The Unitary Agrarian Tribunal (Tribunal Unitario Agrario, TUA) issued a ruling upholding agrarian law and stated that the company was required to pay for the restoration of lands in addition to offering better agreement terms. In 2012, a community census was conducted by local health officials who stated that at least one member of every family had symptoms of one or more diseases related to mineral extraction (Environmental Justice Atlas). The village was diligent in documenting illness in accordance with the protocol set forth by the Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining and the Mesoamerican Movement against the Mining Extractive Model (Red Mexicana de Afectadas y Afectados por la Minería y el Movimiento Mesoamericano contra el Modelo extractivo Minero, M4). The main water basin within Carrizalillo, occupying around 77.4% of the territory, was destroyed and caused 80% of the families to show signs of skin damage. Despite the indigenous community gaining control of the territorial lease and stipulations, there has been irreparable damage done within the region. Between 2011 and 2019, a total of 55 community members have been murdered as a result of various violent attacks, a majority of which were carried out by organized crime groups in the region. 

A Current Reality

Torex Gold Resources Inc, a Canadian mining company that has been operating in Guerrero under its subsidiary Media Luna Mine (Minera Media Luna S.A. de C.V.) since 2010, has been cited as having evaded many of the protective laws in place for indigenous peoples throughout the years. The community of La Fundición has faced continued persecution from groups like the Confederation of Mexican Workers (Confederación de Trabajadores Mexicanos, CMT) and other OCGs openly in favor of the mining company. One hundred and seventy families from the communities of La Fundición and Real del Limón were displaced after false land titles were used to strip the residents of their land rights. Further claims against Torex Gold Resources state that the Autonomous University of Guerrero (Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, UAGro) manipulated data relating to contamination figures, as the university has previously received funds from the company. On May 12, Óscar Ontiveros Martínez, a miner in opposition of the Media Luna Mining Company was killed by an armed group in Real de Limón. The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre stated that this was the fourth individual who worked with or in the mine since 2017. The company released a statement in response to the four murders and denied any involvement in the crimes while also restating that as a company their protection of human rights remains paramount. 

An Uncertain Future

There are various organizations like the CMDPDH and the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre that condemn the continued persecution and violent displacement of indigenous communities throughout Mexico. However, government officials have been reticent about combating this phenomenon and OCGs continue to wage violence in an effort to advance their organizational interests. One certainty is that there are insufficient protections available to indigenous persons facing the threat of displacement and their safety has become contingent on the outcomes of the disputes emerging around them. Since the emergence of COVID-19, many cartels have become emboldened and are targeting mining facilities due to their current vulnerability. The Alamos Gold’s Mulatos mine, located in Sonora, reported on April 8 that armed criminals stole gold bars from the facility, estimated to be around $3 million dollars. A predicted decrease in drug trade revenues has forced organized crime groups to shift their sights towards metal and mineral mining facilities, as they are seen as easy targets. Much is yet to be determined as mining facilities and their surrounding communities, like Guerrero, are left susceptible to organized crime groups and face the uncertainties of COVID-19. 

Sources:

Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos. “Urge protección y atención a cientos de familias desplazadas en Chiapas.” CMDPDH. December 21, 2017.

Palma, Arturo de Dios. “Sin freno, éxodo por la violencia.” El Universal. January 12, 2018.

Movimiento Mesoamericano contra el Modelo extractivo Minero. “Canadian Mining Company Torex Gold Resources Inc; Archetype of Violence in Guerrero.” October 4, 2019.

Environmental Justice Atlas. “Mina Los Filos – El Bermejal, Carrizalillo, Guerrero, Mexico.” October 20, 2019.

Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. “Mexico.” December 31, 2019.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. “Mexico: Torex Gold responds to 4 cases of killings and the one disappearance of labour rights defenders and workers in the Media Luna mine in Guerrero over the past 3 years.” 2020.

Bnamericas. “Mexican crime gangs target miners amid COVID-19 crisis.” Bnamericas. April 14, 2020.

International Crisis Group. “Mexico’s Everyday War: Guerrero and the Trials of Peace.” May 4, 2020.

Contreras, Ezequiel Flores. “Ejecutan a opositor a la minera Media Luna en Cocula, Guerrero.” Proceso. May 16, 2020.

Torex Gold Resources Inc. “Torex Gold response.” Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. June 1, 2020.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “SODIUM CYANIDE : Systemic Agent.” CDC.

Minority Rights Group. “Indigenous Peoples.”

México\Procuraduría Agraria.

Self-defense groups continue to show force in Mexico

Posted on by kheinle

Two self-defense groups took to the streets on May 7 in Xaltianguis. Source: David Guzmán González, EFE.

05/17/19 (written by kheinle) — The Mexican Government’s ongoing battle to quell self-defense groups (grúpos de autodefensa) continues to make news. Such groups rose in 2013 and 2014 when community members took up arms to protect their communities. They quickly turned, however, into a three-front battle between such groups, organized crime groups, and government forces.

Autodefensas in Guerrero

More than six years later, parts of Mexico are still grappling with autodefensas. A recent shootout in the state of Guerrero, for example, made headlines when two groups battled in the streets of Xaltianguis, Acapulco in the early morning of May 7. The fight between the Unión de Pueblos y Organizaciones del Estado de Guerrero (UPOEG) and the Frente de Policías Comunitarios del Estado de Guerrero (Fupceg) left two or three individuals dead and several more wounded. The fight resulted in schools suspending classes and businesses closing up shop while the police and military forces secured the area. According to El Proceso, the confrontation allowed a competing autodefensa group, Los Dumbos, to assume control of that plaza. Guerrero Governor Héctor Astudillo Flores then called on the State’s District Attorney’s Office (Fiscalía General del Estado, FGE) to act against the self-defense groups operating in Acapulco and Chilpancingo.

In response, the State Board of Coordination for the Construction of Peace (La Mesa de Coordinación estatal para la construcción de la Paz) took swift action, agreeing to create a Mixed Operations Base (Base de Operaciones Mixtas) in Xaltianguis. La Jornada reports that it will be staffed by elements of the Mexican Army (Ejército Mexicano), Navy, (Secretaría de Marina Armada de México, SEMAR), the State’s Attorney’s General Office (FGE), State Police (Policía Estatal), and Acapulco’s Secretary of Public Security (Secretaría de Seguridad Pública, SSP).

Autodefensas in Michoacán

Other states, meanwhile, have made more progress against self-defense groups. In Michoacán, for example, the autodefensas are on the decline. The Diario de Yucatán reports that only three self-defense groups are still active in that state, a 90% reduction from the 32 groups initially registered there in 2013. Operating in Coahuayana, Ostula, and La Ruana, these groups formed in response to the violence unleashed by the Knights Templar Organization (Los Caballeros Templarios). Now, continues the article, the three groups are all that remain. Although the autodefensa in Coahuayana has helped to maintain peace, the ones in Ostula and La Ruana are bringing more violence. Meanwhile, the other 29 groups have disbanded or the members have joined the municipal police, street gangs, or organized crime groups.

Still, the self-defense groups continue to pose a problem for the Mexican Government, in part because they blur the line between authority and civilian. Guerrero’s Governor, Héctor Astudillo, had to recently deny that his administration was protecting autodefensa leader Daniel Adame Pompa of Los Dumbos, a rejection that Adame Pompa confirmed. Instead, Adame Pompa took the opportunity to reiterate his reasoning for joining and leading the self-defense group. “Our safety and security are in the hands of authorities; but we’re not going to gamble with our integrity. If [the authorities] don’t do it, we’ll do it ourselves,” he said. For its part, the Fupceg self-defense group saw itself working more closely with the government when the group formed in late 2018. “We declare ourselves allies of the government and not enemies,” it wrote in a public communique. “…That is the only way the Mexican community is going to pursue cohesive development and peace for all,” reports La Jornada.

Sources:

Ocampo Arista, Sergio. “Forman comunitarios el Frente Unido de los Pueblos de la Sierra.” La Jornada. December 5, 2018.

“Los autodefensas se niegan a morir.” Diario de Yucatán. May 2, 2019.

De Dios Palma, Arturo. “Aumenta la tensión en Xaltianguis, Guerrero.” El Universal. May 8, 2019.

Briseño, Héctor. “Tras enfretamiento de autodefensas, refuerzan seguridad en Xaltianguis.” La Jornada. May 9, 2019.

Trujillo, Javier. “Los Dumbos no somos delincuentes: Daniel Adame.” MPS Guerrero Noticias. May 9, 2019.

Flores Contreras, Ezequiel. “Gobernador de Guerrero se deslinda del caso de las autodefensas.” Proceso. May 10, 2019.

New Justice in Mexico and Wilson Center Report: The U.S. Fentanyl Boom and the Mexican Opium Crisis: Finding Opportunities Amidst Violence?

Posted on by Ashley Ashley Ahrens-Viquez

 

02/11/19- Fentanyl overdoses in the United States have risen tenfold in just four years and are now related to 60% of total opioid deaths. According to a working paper by Romain LeCour Grandmaison, Nathaniel Morris and Benjamin T. Smith, the dramatic increase of fentanyl use in the United State is generating a parallel and rapid collapse in the price offered for raw opium in rural Mexico. In the working paper titled “The U.S. Fentanyl Boom and the Mexican Opium Crisis: Finding Opportunities Amidst Violence?” the authors utilize the case studies of two villages in Nayarit and Guerrero, Mexico, respectively, to analyze the socio-political effects of U.S. fentanyl use on the opium and heroin economy in Mexico. The findings of this study have important implications for public security in Mexico, as well as major ramifications for international counter-drug efforts.

The authors provide historical context to illustrate the trends in the Mexican opium markets. There were various increases and declines in the production of the drug within Mexico before the 1990s. A notable change to opium production came with the introduction of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, which gradually increased price competition until 2008, thereby negatively affecting Mexican rural communities. As a result, many farmers turned to the cultivation of narcotics. According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the number of hectares of opium poppies in Mexico increased from 1,900 hectares in 2000 to 44,100 hectares in 2017.

 

The authors illustrate the effects of the shift from heroin to fentanyl through two case studies: Village A, located in Nayarit, and Village B, located in Guerrero. Both villages are poorer than the national average with 61.6% of the population of Village A and 33% of the population of Village B living in extreme poverty. Additionally, both villages are located in states that face high levels of violence.

The people of Village A have traditionally depended on agriculture for their livelihoods. Beginning the in mid-1980s, the inhabitants began depending on the cultivation of opium poppies and, to a lesser extent, marijuana to supplement their income with very little knowledge of the laws prohibiting these narcotics. However, with the fentanyl crisis, the last year has seen a more than 50% decline in the price of opium in Village A from 18,000 – 20,000 pesos ($950 – $1,050 dollars) per kilo in early 2017 to 8,000 pesos ($420 dollars) per kilo by mid-2018. As a result, some villagers have emigrated while other have become wage-laborers for drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) that they previously had little contact with.

According to the authors, 95% of males in Village B are involved in poppy production. While most people are involved in cultivation, a substantial number is also involved in the processing of opium paste into heroin. Local drug bosses sell the pure heroin to bigger organizations that are capable of selling and transporting the drug. Before the fentanyl crisis, a local farmer could make around 80,000 pesos ($4,230 dollars) a year through poppy cultivation. However, between October 2017 and the summer of 2018, prices dropped to 6,000 pesos ($315 dollars) a kilo. As with the case of Village A, locals are concerned that should the decline in prices continue, they would be forced to leave their village. The problems confronting the inhabitants of Village A and B signal larger trends, such as the value of opium to rural communities in Mexico and the radical decrease of value of opium over the past year.

 

 

The authors offer that the current opium crisis may provide an opportunity to shift from their dependency on illicit crops and away from drug trafficking. The high risk involved in the production of narcotics that was previously outweighed by large returns may no longer be worth it as a result of price declines. In their paper, the authors examine two alternatives widely touted by politicians as solutions to poverty and violence: drug legalization, which could convert the cultivation of opium into morphine production for Mexican hospitals, and crop substitution, or the replacement of the cultivation of illicit crops for food cultivation. The authors find neither of these solutions are “silver bullets.” Additionally, although there has been a reduction in heroin production, this will not likely lead to lasting peace, as DTOs are liable to move to other illicit activities. Despite these concerns, if legalization and crop substitution are properly implemented and combined with broader security policies, they could integrate rural areas into the country for good.

 

 

New Publications by the Justice in Mexico and CIDE-Wilson Center Collaboration

Posted on by Micaela Smith

11/17/15 (written by alagorio) – Justice in Mexico, in collaboration with the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, presents the most recent publications in a series of working papers that analyze how to strengthen the rule of law and improve security in the face of organized crime related violence in Mexico. The newest resources in this series include: “Mexico: The Fight against Corruption,” by Mauricio Merino Huerta and “How to Reduce Violence in Guerrero,” by Victor Manuel Sánchez Valdés.

Mauricio Merino Huerta discusses Mexico’s fight against corruption and reviews the ongoing reforms to promote transparency and curtail corruption. The ongoing transparency and corruption reforms have been the subject of much public debate. These reforms have built upon academic and social organizations’ years of research and dialogue to draft comprehensive, articulate, and coherent public policy on accountability as a way to fight the corruption that has plagued Mexico’s public institutions. Corruption hinders institutions from performing as expected, deteriorates trust and social relationships, violates rights, wastes resources, restricts economic growth and limits income distribution. Corruption is the number one cause of inequality, impunity, and exclusion from Mexico’s political regime. The publication is available in Spanish and English here.

Mauricio Merino Huerta is a professor and researcher for the Center of Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico City.

Victor Manuel Sánchez Valdés conducts an in-depth study of each of the factors including homicide rate and law enforcement corruption that have contributed to the spike in violence Guerrero has faced over the last few years. In addition, the article provides several public policy recommendations, such as, designing models to help authorities gather intelligence against organized crime and prioritizing the strengthening of Guerrero’s police forces. This paper is a continuation of the series, Building Resilient Communities in Mexico: Civic Responses of Crime and Violence, a multiyear effort by the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Justice in Mexico Project at the University of San Diego to analyze the obstacles to and opportunities for improving citizen security in Mexico. The publication is available in Spanish and English here.

Víctor Manuel Sánchez Valdés is a Public Policy PhD student at the Center of Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) with an expertise in organized crime.

Sources:

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/how-to-reduce-violence-guerrero?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvq7Ieu%2FhmjTEU5z17usoUa%2Bg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YIGT8dmI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFSLHMMa12z7gLXxI%3D

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/mexico-the-fight-against-corruption?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvq7Ieu%2FhmjTEU5z17usoUa%2Bg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YIGT8dmI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFSLHMMa12z7gLXxI%3D