During a new march this Sunday against the Cablebús project in this city, organizations and activists warned that the government of Alejandro Armenta Mier has resorted to using shock troops to repress social movements, as well as criminalizing and persecuting protest leaders.
This time, the citizen organizations opposing the cable car transportation system project that the state government intends to implement began their march from the Arco de Loreto, the same location where, on July 15, activists and journalists were attacked by a shock group, despite the presence of police and representatives from the State Human Rights Commission.
“In Puebla, strong winds and dark clouds of repression and criminalization are being felt by the state government, headed by Alejandro Armenta Mier, against social movements, leaders, and activists whose only crime has been the staunch defense of their territory, their water, and their right to a healthy environment,” said one of the organizations.
They also mentioned the events of July 22, when a group of more than 60 people, very similar to those who attacked the Cablebús opponents, appeared outside the Federal Criminal Justice Center during the hearing of Renato Romero and Pascual Bermúdez, water defenders in Xoxtla.
Part of this group was escorted by a state police patrol car; some even got out of the vehicle and shouted slogans against Renato Romero, positioning themselves threateningly at the entrance of the building. There were fears that they intended to attack the social activist.
During the march, the organizations also stated that the government has unleashed a campaign of persecution against Romero in the media and on social networks.
One of the organizations stated that, seven months after Governor Armenta laid the first stone for the Cablebús project, it remains opaque and has failed to justify the investment of nearly 7 billion pesos. The benefits it would generate, by transporting less than 2% of the city’s public transportation users, do not outweigh the numerous negative impacts.
“Despite the empty rhetoric about ‘for the love of Puebla,’ ‘the Unstoppable City,’ ‘a government close to the people,’ ‘a leftist government,’ ‘an environmentalist government’… what we see in both the state and the municipality is an opaque, deaf, frivolous government, intoxicated by power, and in recent weeks even repressive toward citizens and social protest,” they declared.
They added that, given the lack of social acceptance this project faces, in recent months the state government has resorted to discrediting the organizations and environmentalists who have demonstrated in its morning press conferences, hiring campaigns even with influencers, and in recent weeks to “hiring thugs to attack citizens.”
Source: proceso
