Oaxaca’s 3rd Forum in Defense of Territory and Social Property: April 15 in Santa María Atzompa

ByDesinformémonos

This article originally appeared at Desinformémonos on March 31, 2026.

Organizations, communities, and land defenders have called for the 3rd Forum in Defense of Territory and Social Property in Oaxaca, to be held on April 15 in Santa María Atzompa, with the aim of strengthening community organization in the face of threats to communal and ejido lands.

The call comes after agreements reached in previous meetings and in a context of concern about legislative reforms that, they pointed out, put the rights of Indigenous and agrarian communities at risk by facilitating extractive projects and weakening mechanisms for consultation, participation and autonomy.

According to the organizations, the advance of the extractivist model through mining concessions, energy megaprojects and water privatization has violated social property and the right to self-determination of peoples, in addition to affecting the legal security of territories.

The forum will seek to analyze the impact of these policies, strengthen regional coordination, and build legal, organizational, and political strategies for the defense of the territory, while also calling on communities, agrarian authorities, and collectives to participate in this space for collective action.

The full statement follows:

CONVOCATORIA

3rd Foro in Defense of Territory and Social Property in Oaxaca

With the objective of following up on the agreements emanating from the 2nd Forum in Defense of Territory and Social Property in Oaxaca, held in Santa María Atzompa on April 10, 2025, in which 72 representatives of Agrarian Communities and Authorities, Social Organizations, defenders and the general public participated, we agreed to maintain and reinforce our processes of unity and resistance, strengthening our internal regulations and communal statutes, as well as the regional and state articulation in defense of our rivers, forests, flora, fauna and everything that comprises our territory.

Today, in the face of the recent threats facing our Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities, it is urgent to analyze the effects of current legislative reforms, which directly impact the rights of Indigenous and agrarian communities. These reforms, in various areas, have created risks to communal land ownership, facilitated the advancement of extractive projects, and weakened mechanisms for consultation, participation, and autonomy recognized in the constitutional framework and international instruments.

We observe with concern how the extractive model continues to be imposed on our territories through mining concessions, energy megaprojects, water privatization, and changes in agrarian and administrative regulations that affect the legal security of communal and ejido lands. All of this violates the right to self-determination, autonomy, and the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples and communities.

For this reason, we are convening the 3rd Forum in Defense of Territory and Social Property in Oaxaca, which will take place on April 15, 2026 at 08:00 hours, at the OIDHO facilities, located at Calle Capulines #4B , Col. Forestal, in Santa María Atzompa, Oaxaca.

This space will have the following objectives: To strengthen community organization and regional articulation for the defense of social property and territory in Oaxaca, to analyze the implications of current reforms in agrarian, territorial and indigenous matters, to evaluate the impact of the extractivist model in our territories, strengthening our common agenda for the defense of social property in Oaxaca to promote legal, organizational and political strategies for the protection of our collective rights and communal territory.

We call upon the Communities, Agrarian Authorities, Social Organizations, Collectives, Defenders of the Territory and the people in general to actively participate in this space for reflection and collective action.

No to megaprojects of death!
No to the looting and plundering of our lands and territories!
Yes to life and collective ownership of the territory!
Respect for the autonomy and self-determination of our peoples!

Permanent Forum in Defense of Territory and Social Property in Oaxaca: Indigenous Organizations for Human Rights in Oaxaca (OIDHO), Popular Revolutionary Front – FPR, Mixe People’s Services AC, Flor y Canto Indigenous Rights Center AC, Services for Alternative Education AC EDUCA, Tequio Jurídico AC, Center for Support of the Oaxacan Popular Movement, CAMPO AC, Council of Communities in Resistance of Oaxaca CCORO, Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defense of Land and Territory – APIIDTT