The Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining believes the government is expediting environmental permits without considering the cumulative impacts in regions that already face overexploitation of aquifers & environmental degradation.
The yet-to-be-disclosed 200 mining concessions voluntarily returned to the Mexican state represent less than 1% of the 22,000 currently active, while questions remain about the government’s new strategy.
Mining in Mexico has not led to economic development. Despite record wealth extraction, mining communities remain poor, and often poverty rates are far higher than the national average.
The controversy surrounding the U.S.-Mexico critical minerals agreement, examining what it actually says, what it doesn’t, and why it has sparked widespread concern over national sovereignty and resource control.
The risk is clear: Mexico’s mining, environmental, & investment policies can be progressively shaped to comply with Washington’s parameters, while a model of coordinated dependency becomes the regional norm.
The collective believes the action plan is a betrayal of campaign promises, and a threat to Mexico, its town and its common resources.
Mexico is facing a race against time to strengthen not only energy sovereignty, but also energy security in a period of intensified US imperialism.
Mexico’s National Water Commission had attempted to reverse a 2023 decision former President AMLO had made expressly prohibiting mining companies disposing of highly toxic waste in waterways.
Mexico’s National Water Commission is pushing for the mining industry to be allowed to dump toxic waste into rivers, despite President Sheinbaum’s stated environmental objective to clean up contaminated tributaries.
We cannot leave everything in the hands of private investment, as it is essential to protect our national heritage, writes Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, head of the National Miners’ Union.