Environmental Exploitation and Violence Against Indigenous People in Mexico

The struggle of the Mexican Indigenous people to defend their territories and the environment has recently become visible through activism, academic development, and public service. However, the increase in violent aggression against Indigenous conservationists by various economic sectors has profoundly impacted the dispositions for environmental conservation in Mexico in recent years. Through the Southern Green Criminology perspective, this study analyses the various forms of violence and repression suffered by Indigenous conservationists, the diversity of ethnic groups, conservation activities and aggressor sectors in Mexico. The Indigenous conservationists and protectors of Indigenous rights and their territories in which the majority of the attacks were reported belong to three ethnic groups: Binnizá, Nahua and Rarámuri, in the northern, central and southern regions of Mexico. We identified that drug trafficking and governmental development projects are the main sectors oppressing Indigenous people by using violent forms of intimidation and repression such as homicide, injury, deprivation of liberty and criminalisation. We consider that by studying the drivers and dynamics of violence against Indigenous people, we simultaneously contribute to making visible the cultural importance and implications of traditional Indigenous knowledge and practices, as violent aggressions lead to the loss of important knowledge for the conservation of life on the planet.