Environmental Frontlines
Environmental violence in Mexico is escalating, claiming the lives of dozens of land defenders each year — yet the crisis remains dangerously underreported. To understand the roots of this hidden war, we spoke with award-winning journalist and author Dr. Anjan Sundaram, whose frontline reporting has spanned war zones from Central Africa to Latin America. Anjan unpacks the nexus between environmental conflict, organised crime, and international business interests — and explains why indigenous communities are increasingly taking up arms to protect ecosystems vital to our planet’s future.
Anjan, you have been working on armed conflict across the world, but are currently focused on environmental issues in Mexico. What is happening there?
I've been reporting on conflict for the last 20 years, but about four years ago I moved from the humanitarian front lines to the environmental front lines, conscious of the fact that the environmental conflict is the great war of our time and much of it goes underreported.
In 2021, I read in a report by Global Witness that Mexico was the world's deadliest country for environmental defenders with 54 killed just that year. This prompted me to move to Mexico and begin to explore the front lines of the global environmental war where it was hottest. What I discovered was a stunning lack of reporting in Mexico and abroad about incredibly brave environmental defenders and indigenous communities that are risking their lives and, in some cases, paying the ultimate price in order to defend and protect some of the world's last pristine ecosystems.
Areas of prime biodiversity that we and future generations will need in order to survive. And yet these wars and battles, many of them armed battles, go unreported largely in the mainstream press. As I began to travel across Mexico, I began to understand why this was the case, and the many forces that were at play both in terms of the media and in terms of the conflict underway.
“The environmental conflict is the great war of our time and much of it goes underreported”
Can you tell us more? How do the dynamics of violence and environmental issues intersect in Mexico?
The environmental conflict in Mexico, and in much of the world, is fought in large part between small Indigenous communities and powerful forces: corporations, governments, and organised criminals. Mexico is among the deadliest countries in the world for environmental defenders, and Latin America as a whole accounts for nearly 70% of all killings of environmental defenders over the last decade.
Ironically, many of these conflicts are fought in order for the industrial and developed world to procure rare minerals needed for the green energy transition. The industrial world acquires these minerals by going after Indigenous communities that are protecting the very ecosystems that this green transition is supposed to protect.
In Mexico, and in many parts of Latin America and the world, this violence and conflict play out as a battle that involves small Indigenous communities protecting their lands—lands they’ve defended and nurtured for hundreds or thousands of years.
What happens is that companies or the government come in, seeking to mine that land for minerals, build an industrial mega project, or use that territory in some other way. The communities often refuse, seeking to protect their ancestral heritage, which is social, cultural, and ecological.
In some parts of Mexico, these communities also fight legal battles against the companies. But often, they find that the legal system is used against them. For instance, Indigenous environmental leaders have been sentenced to 46 years in prison for allegedly burning a couple of government cars. That is a completely disproportionate sentence.
Because national and international institutions are unable to defend the rights of these Indigenous communities and of the ecology, many communities resort to violence. This is how the violence is sparked and sustained. It is a direct consequence of the lack of ability of international institutions to hear the cries of these communities, recognize the need for ecological defense, and respond to that need in an effective way.
“Are we as a society serious about defending our ecosystems?”
How should we understand these dynamics? Are they driven by crime? Are they politically motivated?
This is an asymmetric battle and war. The small Indigenous communities often number only 1,000 people, and they are forced to defend ecosystems that are valuable for the world. We see a repeated pattern in some parts of Mexico: a company expresses interest in mining a piece of land, and the local Indigenous community refuses. Under Mexico’s constitution, Indigenous communities hold strong legal rights over their territories, including the right to reject outside projects—and many have exercised that right. Because the legal framework protects the Indigenous community’s interests in Mexico, the companies are often left without legal resort.
In some areas, the judicial system is then turned against these communities. Elsewhere, perhaps unsurprisingly, organised crime groups become involved in the conflict. There is no verified evidence that these groups are directly working with companies. But the interests of organised crime groups appear to be aligned with those of companies, because such groups often run protection rackets at the sites of industrial development and mega-projects. Some researchers I’ve spoken to, who work on organized crime, have told me that cartels attack these communities in order to open up land for industrial development. And if a mine is ultimately installed on Indigenous land, organized crime groups may benefit. So their attacks on the community can be seen as a kind of advance investment—a bet on future profits.
In regions like Michoacán, where I have reported from, the government has done little to protect Indigenous communities. Presumably, it also foresees increased tax revenues and industrial development from these projects. And so, it often takes a back seat in these conflicts, avoiding its responsibility to protect Indigenous communities and uphold peace.
“Indigenous communities hold strong legal rights over their territories, including the right to reject outside projects”
So what role do international businesses play in all of this?
Across Mexico, international businesses are involved in developing large-scale industrial projects. Many mining companies have expanded operations in the country, and some have faced severe criticism from Indigenous communities, who allege environmental damage, human rights violations and even assassinations. On the west coast of Michoacán, for example, one Indigenous community has armed itself in response to efforts to expand mining activity in the region.
International laws that are intended to ensure sustainable corporate conduct often prove difficult to enforce in practice. Some companies have received global sustainability awards, even as allegations have been raised about their impacts on local communities.
This points to a deeper challenge: governments frequently encourage multinational investment to promote economic growth, job creation, and expanded tax revenue. In many parts of Latin America, large-scale industrial projects have helped fund anti-poverty and public health initiatives. There is a long-established tradition of public-private partnerships. However, in some contested ecological areas, a third actor has increasingly come into play: organised criminal groups.
Further complicating the situation, journalists are often reluctant or unable to report freely on private sector involvement, due to concerns about legal pressure—particularly the risk of defamation claims. It’s also important to note that Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. Several have been threatened or attacked while investigating sensitive issues, including the potential intersections of organised crime, corporate interests, and state institutions. The combination of fear, legal risk, and limited protections means that much of what occurs in these conflicts remains obscured from the public eye.
“Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists”
How does all of these affect communities? And how are they responding to this?
Communities have been left largely isolated and on their own in the face of national and international institutions that are often unable or unwilling to defend their cultural, communal, and ecological interests. Some communities continue to pursue legal avenues. Others—particularly young people—have turned to social media to raise awareness and to call out foreign companies and government actors they believe are contributing to ecological harm.
And some communities have given up on expecting support from national and international institutions and have armed themselves, fighting back in an escalating conflict to protect their territories. In my view, such conflicts—including armed conflicts—will continue to escalate around the world unless there is serious institutional and policy reform that begins to balance and protect the ecological interests and rights of these Indigenous communities and of the environment.
We depend on small Indigenous communities that are often marginalised, who have little political voice, little political power, and little presence in the media, yet are defending our collective ecological heritage and our future. This is a travesty, and this needs to change.
We need to provide much more support to these Indigenous communities, and we need to take a good look in the mirror and ask ourselves: are we, as a society, serious about defending our ecosystems and protecting them? Or are we going to continue destroying the ecology, as we have over the last centuries, in order to generate further industrial and economic gains?
Cristopher Gonzalez, La laguna desde abajo (Laguna Larga, en la zona de Los Azufres, Michoacán. Mx)
Thank you, Anjan. What do you think can actually be done to address these challenges?
The first step is to pay attention to environmental reporting—such as mine and that of several brave colleagues, including Dom Phillips, who was killed in Brazil while reporting on similar issues.
The first step is to pay attention. The second is to reform national and international institutions. We have so many global environmental conferences and climate change summits, and yet this essential, basic need on the front lines is going ignored.
We need to stop pretending that we’re serious about ecological defence and protection, about reversing climate change, and about preserving the ecology for future generations—for our children and their children. The people doing the brave work of that defence on our behalf are being attacked and killed as we speak.
