Mayo-Yoreme fishers take their fight against a giant ammonia plant on a sacred Sinaloa bay to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

L2Who’s affected

Mayo-Yoreme communities, fishers, service providers and residents of Topolobampo and Los Mochis have kept a round-the-clock camp on the Los Mochis–Topolobampo highway since May 30, through heat of at least 49°C and two cyclones. The bay, listed internationally as a Ramsar site, supports at least 3,000 fishers and is considered sacred by the Mayo-Yoreme (Proceso). "No estamos defendiendo un territorio, estamos defendiendo la vida" (We are not defending a territory, we are defending life), said spokeswoman Claudia Susana Quintero Sandoval of the ¡Aquí No! collective.

L3Why it’s quiet

Analysis · OVERLOOKED The blockade is a long-running regional conflict, and the IACHR filing was reported by Proceso and republished by regional sites. We did not find coverage by the 13 major U.S. outlets.

L4Deeper impact

A Nov. 26, 2024 document from Conagua's Pacific North basin agency, obtained by Proceso, found "no procedente" (not admissible) a GPO request for a concession to discharge an average 26,400 cubic metres a day of industrial wastewater, about 9.6 million cubic metres a year, into the bay. The spokeswomen say they have faced threats, smear campaigns in local media, blasting on a nearby hill by GPO-linked firm Pro Casa, and photographing by the army, municipal police and National Guard and by drones of unknown origin (Proceso; their account, not independently verified).

L5Full context

The project was presented in 2013; in 2022 communities filed amparo suits against Semarnat's approval of its environmental impact statement. Talks with federal authorities July 10–22 ended without agreement, and Instituto Politécnico Nacional scientists are doing baseline studies. On Oct. 27, the Sinaloa Citizen Anti-Corruption Network (Redca) said 2018–2019 complaints over alleged fraudulent dealings in federal mangrove land are unresolved and Profepa inspections are suspended by a GPO amparo. On Oct. 16, Ebrard told the Chamber of Deputies: "vamos a seguir adelante" (we are going to keep going), describing it as a fertilizer project (Proceso).

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