Relatives of two missing Mexican environmentalists point the finger at a transnational mining company they claim is responsible for environmental degradation and violence in the rural community and may have links to the criminals who kidnapped their loved ones.
Ricardo Arturo Lagunes Gasca, a prominent human rights lawyer, and Antonio Díaz Valencia, leader of the Aquila indigenous community in Michoacán state, were last seen Sunday night after attending a meeting of the anti-mining community.
According to witnesses, the two activists were threatened and followed by several men in cars and motorcycles after they left the Aquila meeting and drove to the neighboring state of Colima. Lagoons, 41, and Díaz, 71, were driving in a white Honda pickup that was later found abandoned by the side of a highway riddled with bullets but no blood.
“The killers have been waiting for the right moment. They threatened the teacher [Díaz] and the lawyer [Lagunes] in the past and told us there were five of us on their list. The killers watched there on Sunday, followed them on motorcycles and in cars and took them away,” said Miguel Jiménez, a parishioner whose name was changed to protect him from reprisals.
At a news conference on Thursday, the missing lawyer’s sister said: “We want to emphasize the possible responsibility of the mining company Ternium to ensure that my brother Ricardo Lagunes and Professor Antonio Díaz are found alive.”
“The company is one of the most powerful players in the region and its activities have impacted not only the environment but also the social fabric, sparking conflict and violence. The company has ties to various local groups and possible perpetrators of these enforced disappearances. We demand a full investigation and that the company assist us in finding my brother and Antonio alive,” said Lucía Lagoons Gasca.
“We think the company could be involved and that’s why we’re asking for the company to come in; if they have nothing to hide, they should say it,” said María de Jesús Lagunes, the missing lawyer’s aunt.
Mining company Ternium Mexico denied any involvement.
In a statement, a spokesman for the mining company said: “Ternium expresses its solidarity with the families of the missing men and with the community of Aquila… and hopes for a swift clarification of events. Ternium is against any kind of violence and categorically rejects any speculation and/or slander that attempts to associate them with any kind of illegal activity. We always act in accordance with the law and with a broad sense of social responsibility. Ternium is a leading publicly traded steelmaking company in Latin America, operating transparently and under the highest standards of control in all of its operations.”
Lagoons, a well-known defender of indigenous people and land rights, is representing the Aquila community in their fight for compensation from the company whose mines have allegedly caused environmental, health and social damage, as well as division and community violence.
Last week, three community members – who were part of a self-defense force trying to protect their territory from criminal groups and land grabs – were murdered by members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent criminal groups. Two others managed to escape.
Violence along the Colima-Michoacán border in northern Mexico has sparked mass displacement and forced immigration as the CJNG has waged war against the Knights Templar cartel for control of various illegal and legal industries, including mining, avocados and bananas.
Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for environmental and land rights defenders, where criminal groups and corrupt officials threaten and attack communities with near impunity. In 2021, 54 land rights defenders were murdered and 19 others disappeared, according to Global Witness, the international watchdog that tracks violence linked to resource projects.
In recent years, the CJNG has made a foray into illegal mining and “committed violence against indigenous communities with complete impunity and without adequate response from the Mexican state,” Global Witness said.
The Ternium is pictured outside of its Monterrey, Mexico facility. Photo: Daniel Becerril/PortalLagoons had previously been awarded multiple protections by the Mexican government and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in response to death threats related to high-profile land rights cases.
Amid growing fears for the men’s safety — and anger at states’ lackluster response — relatives, colleagues and other supporters in Mexico City set up a protest camp in front of the National Palace, urging authorities to act.
The situation is complex and the community is divided. On the one hand, anti-mining community groups are demanding that Ternium Mexico fulfill its 2012 financial, social and infrastructure promises. They are also trying to stop a new mining project for iron ore and other metals, which they say has not been approved.
On the other hand, according to local reports, other community members are allegedly linked to the company and/or criminal gangs.
In the past decade, 38 local environmental and land rights defenders have been killed and another six have disappeared, according to the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations All Rights for Everybody. None of the crimes were successfully prosecuted.
Despite the conflict and violence, anti-mining activists have vowed to continue their fight amid a rise in childhood diseases, water shortages, land erosion and deforestation. Jiménez said: “We are afraid of this fight for fear that at any moment another of us could be next. We need the government to get our colleagues back or the community groups will have to act.”
Ternium Mexico is the local subsidiary of the Luxembourg steel group Ternium, which is part of the Italo-Argentinian group Techinta.