Oaxaca Indigenous leader’s killing leaves land defenders’ safety in doubt
Oaxaca Indigenous leader’s killing leaves land defenders’ safety in doubt
Ayuuk leader Arnoldo Nicolás Romero, a municipal commissioner of the Buena Vista ejido in San Juan Guichicovi, a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, was found dead Jan. 21. His body was discovered with several bullet wounds on a private ranch near his community. No arrests have bee...
- Arnoldo Nicolás Romero, a commissioner in Oaxaca’s San Juan Guichicovi municipality, was found shot dead on Jan. 21, hidden behind bushes in a private ranch not far from his community.
- Since the country began to develop the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a large railroad project that runs across several Indigenous territories, including Romero’s, communities have reported dispossession, increased criminalization and violence.
- After Romero’s death, the Union of Indigenous Communities of the Northern Zone of the Isthmus (UCIZONI) released a statement that condemned his killing and demanded that authorities “promptly” initiate an investigation into his death.
- No arrests have been made or suspects identified.
After Romero’s death, UCIZONI released a statement that condemned his killing and demanded that authorities “promptly initiate proceedings and conduct an exhaustive investigation in order to identify and punish those responsible.”
His death points to an escalating crisis in the region, as Indigenous peoples face increased dispossession, criminalization and violence for defending their territories from extractive interests and destructive megaprojects. Since Mexico began to develop the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus Tehuantepec in 2019, a large railroad, highway and port project that runs through several Indigenous territories, including Romero’s, land defenders have faced fines and prison sentences and, in some cases, have been threatened or attacked.