APOYO Press Conference Photo@EDUCA

On March 16, organizations from 11 municipalities from the Tehuantepec Isthmus filed a collective injunction as indigenous peoples against the Special Economic Zones (SEZ). More than 1,800 people from the Binniza, Ikoots, Mixe, Chontal and Zoque villages, which form part of the Network of Indigenous Peoples of the Oaxacan Isthmus in Defense of Territory (APOYO in its Spanish acronym), signed the injunction. In a press conference on March 17, they reported that “the regional collective injunction filed yesterday aims to protect the rights of indigenous peoples of the Tehuantepec Isthmus, regarding the infrastructure that is intended to be built on their territories without consultation and without obtaining their free, prior and informed consent, for the start of another stage of installation of more wind farms in the region.”

A member of APOYO recalled that, “for several years we have seen how we have had wind farms imposed in our communities that have seriously affected our life, culture and natural resources violating the fabric of our community.” And now the “Federal government has authorized the construction of infrastructure for a second phase of wind expansion in the Isthmus.”

It was also stated that the second phase of wind farms is “arriving in an imposed manner and in the same way as the first phase with promises of development and growth.” It was concluded that the second phase of wind development is the spearhead of the SEZ, which “is characterized by very specific laws and regulations that violate the individual and collective rights of communities.”

For more information in Spanish:

Se amparan pueblos del Istmo contra Zona Económica Especial (EDUCA, 17 de marzo de 2017)

Comunicado: COMUNICADO DE PRENSA DE LA ARTICULACION DE PUEBLOS ORIGINARIOS DEL ISTMO OAXAQUENO EN DEFENSA DEL TERRITORIO (APOYO) (17 de marzo de 2017)

Contacto de APOYO: articulaciondepueblos@gmail.com

PARQUES EÓLICOS: LA CARA DEL DESPOJO EN EL ISTMO DE TEHUANTEPEC (Sin Embargo, 1 de abril de 2015)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: comunidades del Istmo presentan amparo ante la ZEE (noviembre de 2016)

Nacional: el Senado aprueba la Ley Federal de Zonas Económicas Especiales (ZEE) (15 de abril de 2016)