Various campesinos [traditional small farmers], civic and labor organizations and defenders of the rights of indigenous peoples announced the creation of a national front to stop the processes of
"appropriation and dispossession of land, and the exploitation and plunder of natural and mineral resources of rural and indigenous communities by private companies."At a press conference, they announced that, on May 18 and 19, more than 80 groups will hold a National Meeting of the Peoples for Life in Las Margaritas, Chiapas.
José Jacobo Femat, president of the Center for Campesino and Popular Organizations (Cocyp) indicated that, in order to address the policy of omission and collusion of recent PRI and PAN governments, the effort should be nationwide. He said there are several initiatives but are only at the state level, which is insufficient to confront the problem.
Alejandra Lopez, a member of the Coordinating Committee in Defense of the Rights of the Peoples (Codep), noted that the dispossession intensified after changes were made to Article 27 of the Constitution during the administration of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari [1988-94], specifically regarding the increase in mining.
"Our natural resources have been completely defenseless. There are one thousand mining projects in the country; more than 300 are in Oaxaca. For example, the Canadian mining company Fortuna Silver, in Ocotlan and San José del Progreso, constructed open pit mines to extract gold and silver. The communities have resisted them, but it was not enough."Jacobo Femat said that the appropriate authorities have not done their job to safeguard and respect the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection. Among the consequences, he noted that
"there are 5,000 hectares [12,355 acres] of forest in Milpa Alta [a mountainous delgation or borough of Mexico City] damaged by illegal logging, 150,000 hectares [370,658 acres] in two municipalities in Durango, and the construction of a highway in ... the state of Mexico, with serious environmental damage."For the leader, the severity of resource pillaging
"raises the need to build specific legislation that considers the land, water, air and biodiversity as key resources for life, subject to stricter regulation that prevents over-exploitation and ensures their improvement and conservation."Spanish original