Organizations such as Global Witness report the increasing rates of human rights violations against land and environmental defenders around the world. From 2016, Latin America is considered one of the global regions reporting higher number of cases and Mexico is not exempted from this pattern. Since the new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, took office in December 2018, 18 murders of this kind have been reported. Community members, journalists, NGO staff and indigenous people are commonly the victims and increasingly women are doubly affected when other types of gender violence intersect their activism.
These atrocities prompt journalists and academics to ask themselves what is to be done to minimise this type of violent conflicts? Are the participative institutions existing in the country enough to prevent these conflicts? And how should governments and multi-lateral organisations intervene in order to mediate conflict when it has already burst?
Through our research project ‘Conversing with Goliath’ we have generated a map of conflicts derived from a 12-year newspaper review of the extractive industry in Mexico: mining, hydrocarbons, hydroelectric-dam and wind-farm sectors. The sources consulted were online outlets with highest circulation across the country, nationally and regionally.
