MEXICO CITY (AP) – An Indigenous anti-mining activist has been killed in a dangerous part of western Mexico, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
The killing of Eustacio Alcalá comes just over two months after two other community anti-mining activists disappeared near where Acalá’s body was found.
It reinforced Mexico’s reputation as the deadliest place in the world for environmental and land defence activists, according to a report by the non-governmental group Global Witness, which said Mexico saw 54 activists killed in 2021.
Alcalá was found dead days after he disappeared while driving on a highway known for violent incidents last Saturday. He was driving a group religious workers in his truck, when they were pulled over by armed men; the workers later released, the activist group All Rights For Everyone said.
Alcalá had led a largely successful fight to prevent an iron ore mine from opening near his Nahua village of San Juan Huitzontla. Residents argued the proposed mine would pollute waterways and damage the environment.
The village is near the townships of Aquila and Coalcoman in the western state of Michoacan. The area has been on the front line of drug cartel turf battles for years. Prosecutors in Michoacan state said Alcalá’s body had bullet wounds.
They said he was kidnapped over the weekend.
