Yarrr, me hearties! Me shipmates be screechin' for retribution after that green do-gooder got sent to Davy Jones' locker near Mexico City.
2023-06-23
Arrr, me hearties! Ye be hearin' the scuttlebutt of some landlubbers and learned men callin' for justice and an inquiry into the demise of an eco-warrior, struck down with a hatchet just past Mexico City. Shiver me timbers, what a kerfuffle!
Arrr, me hearties! Some swashbucklin' academics and mates be demandin' an investigation into the brutal slayin' of Mexican researcher and environmentalist, Álvaro Arvizu. The poor lad was hacked with an axe or a hatchet, and his colleagues believe it was in retaliation for his work defendin' the forests and water resources in the mountains near Mexico City. The official reports suggest it was a robbery at the environmental center where he worked, but his colleagues dispute that claim, sayin' it was a planned, pre-meditated attack. Two of Arvizu's mates were also beaten badly in the incident, and the attackers took a small-caliber rifle that Arvizu used to kill gophers. But the mates dispute that it was a robbery, as valuable scientific equipment was not taken. The center has suffered robberies before, but this attack was particularly vicious. The phone and electricity lines were cut just before the attack, and the attackers wanted money and arms.The center gives courses on compostin' and other agricultural techniques, but it also opposes excessive water use and timber extraction. A day before Arvizu was killed, another environmentalist who ran a similar center nearby was also murdered. That activist, Cuauhtémoc Márquez, a beekeeper, had also been active in campaigns against water pollution and extraction and had reported receiving threats. The two killings were the latest in a string of slayings and disappearances that have made Mexico the deadliest place in the world for environmental and land defense activists. According to a 2022 report by the nongovernmental group Global Witness, Mexico saw 54 activists killed in 2021, the highest number in the world. It's a sad state of affairs when defendin' the planet and its resources can end up with you walkin' the plank. We hope justice is served for these brave environmentalists.