Natalia Méndez
Natalia Magdalena Méndez Vásquez is an indigenous defender of the land and territory of the Zapotec region in the central valleys of Oaxaca. Originally from the municipality of Magdalena Ocotlán, she is a teacher of indigenous education and member of the Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining (REMA).
Natalia Méndez Vásquez has worked in the defence of the Zapotec territory since the arrival of the San José mining project in 2009. In that year, the defender was attacked during a police operation for the installation of the mining project in the valley.
She has been the main plaintiff of a mine tailings spill case in October 2018 that contaminated the main water sources of seven communities, including the well that supplies piped water to her community.
The San José project was property of the Cuzcatlán mining company, subsidiary of the Canadian company Fortuna Mining, from 2009 to 2024, and now belongs to the Peruvian company JRC Ingeniería e Construcción S.A.C.
Throughout her work, Natalia Méndez Vásquez and her family have faced threats and harassment. The defender has even suffered attacks and a kidnapping attempt.
She is currently working in the community's council, where she has also been constantly attacked by municipal authorities and Oaxaca state government officials because of her stance and defence work in face of the interests of the mining project.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) and journalists in Mexico are subject to intimidation, legal harassment, arbitrary detention, death threats, acts of physical aggression, enforced disappearances and killings as a result of their activities in defence of human rights and the exercise of freedom of expression and journalism.
Disappearances are endemic in Mexico, often happening with collusion from the state. HRDs working on the issue face serious risk, up to and including death. HRDs working in the defence of territory, particularly indigenous territory, face a similar level of risk. They are criminalised, imprisoned, defamed, and often killed. Journalists working on any of these issues, or issues related to the drugs trade and the government's complicity in this, also run the risk of losing their lives.
