Mexico: 15 people killed in dispute linked to wind energy projects in Oaxaca

By The Guardian

July 2, 2020

Investigations under way into the reasons behind deaths of 13 men and two women

At least 15 people have been bludgeoned to death with stones and cement blocks, and some bodies partly burned, in an indigenous village in southern Mexico plagued by a dispute over windpower.

The municipal government of the Pacific coast community of San Mateo del Mar in Oaxaca state said 13 men and two women were killed at the weekend by what it described as a group of six people with the support of a local crime boss. Activists who successfully opposed windpower projects say the mayor’s followers ambushed them at a coronavirus checkpoint.

The prosecutor’s office in the southern state confirmed the figure of 15 dead, and said a detachment of four detectives, 80 state police and 39 national guard members had been sent to the scene of the killings, the village of Huazantlán del Río. Investigations were under way into the reasons behind the killings and if the attackers had guns.

The two women killed had been protesting against abuses by one of the suspected attackers, who described himself as a representative of Huazantlán del Río, the municipal government said.

The area – where many residents belong to the Ikoots indigenous group – is coveted for its open, windy coast, and the two sides have been feuding for years. The conflicts date back to 2012 when a consortium of companies tried to build a huge, 396-megawatt offshore wind farm planned for a narrow spit of land in a lagoon near San Mateo.

Opponents of the scheme managed to block the project, arguing it would affect their fishing, farming and sacred spaces.

The area has also been the scene of territorial disputes and conflicts over rights of way.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report