In the early hours of 28 January 2014, the protest camp of the Asamblea Popular del Pueblo de Juchitán – APPJ (Popular Assembly of Juchitán), located in communal territories of Juchitán de Zaragoza on the Tehuantepec Isthmus, Oaxaca, was razed to the ground for a second time by unknown persons. The razing by fire is the latest incident in a pattern of serious harassment against the APPJ. The APPJ was formed in February 2013 to struggle against the imposition of the wind-farm Bií Hioxo, which is managed by the Spanish venture capital firm Gas Natural Fenosa (GNF), on the Tehuantepec Isthmus. According to the APPJ, the communities have not been properly consulted about the many large-scale development projects which are currently under construction in the Isthmus. Since its inception, the APPJ has repeatedly denounced aggressions against those who work to defend their land and territory.
On 28 January 2014, at approximately 2:45am, as neighbours in the area were beginning to make their preparations to go fishing, they noticed a fire at the protest camp and rushed to the scene. The incident follows a previous razing of the protest camp that occurred on 15 October 2013. Members of the APPJ have been subjected to harassment and surveillance over the course of their legitimate and peaceful opposition to Bií Hioxo. This struggle has cost the lives of APPJ sympathisers, such as in the case of fisherman Mr Héctor Regalado Jiménez, who was shot dead with six bullets on 1 August 2013. Read the original article here.
