[ [link removed] ]Illustration of a open truck carrying big pink pigs
John,
Excrement from 48,000 pigs is flowing into the water supply of an
Indigenous Mayan village. Children are getting sick with diseases like
chikungunya, dengue and intestinal diseases.
Yet Mexico’s biggest pork producer, Kekén, got the greenlight to EXPAND
its megafarm.
The local community set up a protest camp outside the farm, but then the
police started a brutal crackdown. A few days ago, in the early hours of
the morning, they broke into the village where 15 Mayan women, children
and elderly people were in the camp. More than 100 riot police beat,
tortured and stole the belongings of the people.
Since then, intimidation and criminalisation of the community has
continued. In a protest in support of Sitilpech, 4 people were arbitrarily
arrested. They have been released but two are facing charges. A judge even
agreed that two of these arrests were illegal.
To fight back, the community has decided to take the pork giant to court.
Under the Mexican constitution, Indigenous groups have to give their
consent for companies to operate on their land…and Kekén has been
operating without their consent for years.
It’s a case they can win, but activists need to quickly raise the funds to
pay for the costs of a legal process of this magnitude, a process that
they are carrying out together with the organisation Kanan Derechos
Humanos. Together, we can get them the money they need to shut down the
pork megafarm for good – and ensure their water is safe for all to drink.
Can you chip in to help?
[ [link removed] ]Donate
$3[ [link removed] ]Donate
another amount
Kekén’s vast megafarm is right next to the local village of Sitilpech,
home to 1,800 Indigenous Mayans. For years, the company has thrown
polluted water with pig excrement and urine into the subsoil, which is
absorbed into the only water supply of the region.
Studies by Mexican authorities have shown the presence of high
contaminants associated with pig waste in the water that the farm
supposedly cleans in its treatment plants.
And it’s not just the waste that’s causing harm. To produce 1 kilogram of
pork, it takes 6,000 liters of water. And with more than 48,000 pigs, the
pork giant is sucking so much water out of local supply that the nearby
community faces a water shortage on top of everything else.
Desperate to stop the poisoning of their land, air, and water, the local
community came together to start protesting on the roads so that more pigs
couldn't enter the farm. But the police used violence to force them to
move.
Now they have one final chance to finally shut down the megafarm for good.
90% of the community signed a petition demanding the farm be shut down.
And now they’re pursuing their case in court. Experts say they have a real
shot at winning, but they need to quickly raise the money to fund their
case.
In Yucatán there are more than 220 pig farms, of which only 20 have prior
environmental studies, many of which have been authorised with
irregularities.
Together we can get them the funds almost overnight – are you in?
[ [link removed] ]Donate
$3[ [link removed] ]Donate
another amount
Thanks for all that you do,
Alys and the Ekō team
---------------------------------
More information:
[ [link removed] ]Policías desalojan a habitantes de Sitilpech, Yucatán, que se oponen a
una granja porcina, Proceso, 18 February 2023.
[ [link removed] ]La Esperanza de Sitilpech, freno a devastación por industria porcícola,
Avispa Midia, 20 August 2021.
Ekō is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.
Please help keep Ekō strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]
