Eduardo Mosqueda is an environmental activist from Mexico, where civic space is repressed. He serves as Executive Director for a non-governmental organization called Tsiniki which specializes in human rights — particularly environmental rights and the work of supporting land rights defenders. In this In My Own Words article, Mosqueda shares how a strong sense of justice, cultivated in his childhood and strengthened by witnessing Mexico’s social and environmental challenges, led him to defend people and the planet.
When I was a child…
…I heard about justice and the struggle of people in my country. My mother came from a rural area in the country where the people were politically aware and radical.I remember very well that my mom was pretty political and aware of all the problems. She was always reading, always had an opinion, and always gave me an idea of how the world worked.
I also remember being five years old and seeing the Zapatista army (who staged a hostile uprising in Mexico three decades ago) on the roads, how nervous the government was, and how hard that time was. It gave me a lot of sensibility and compassion for the problems and the people in the rural areas and the countryside because I’m descended from them. Since then, I always wanted to be part of the struggle and the process of getting justice for all.
I became an activist because…
I’m pretty aware that as a human being, I am part of a local community on the one hand and a global community on the other. Both need to be aware of this connection to each other to address our challenges, especially with the systemic violation of human rights and the systemic devastation of the environment that gives us this great threat that is climate change.
"...those in power feel as though they can act with impunity. They feel like they have the divine right to grab the money because of their power."
I believe the environmental justice cause matters because…
…human rights violations, environmental devastation, and climate change are the biggest challenges for the most vulnerable people. This work matters in Mexico because there are parts of the country that are very conservative, and many see themselves more as white. Where I grew up, many people viewed themselves as not being close to the Indigenous community but instead saw themselves as more Spanish and French descendants. When independence came, some states didn’t want independence from Spain. When the revolution came, they didn’t want that revolution.
On the contrary, I had the fortune to go to university and, even before that, to get involved in protest movements. At university, I began to know some professors who were more involved in environmental justice, which, in Mexico, is deeply connected with social justice. I had the fortune to know some people who had been involved in the movement in the ‘70s, who survived thatmovementdespite the fact that the state killed and disappeared a lot of people.
Civic space in my country Mexico is repressed.
It remains a very dangerous place to be an activist. Social and environmental justice organizations like Global Witness have researched and discovered reports of killings of activists. Mexico remains one of the most dangerous places for environmental activists. This is because the system remains one that sacrifices people’s wants and sentiments in the name of development and business.
Business people, in particular, own and want Mexico’s richest spots of biodiversity and resources. So there is this big alliance of corrupt capitalism that is organized crime, the government, and big capital that exists to ensure the sacrifice and the silence of people affected by this extraction. This extraction of resources from the natural land for profit, without boundaries, has a bad impact on communities.
Eduardo Mosqueda is an environmental activist and the Executive Director for a non-governmental organization called Tsiniki, which specializes in human rights. Here, Mosqueda is photographed in Mexico on Nov. 14, 2024.
The challenges in doing this work are huge…
…those in power feel as though they can act with impunity. They feel like they have the divine right to grab the money because of their power. There are corrupt governments and corrupt politicians, big capital, and also organized crime that depend on violence to keep the people quiet, to keep the people from complaining about the violations and destruction suffered.
The most challenging thing right now in Mexico is that the justice system doesn’t work at all. It doesn’t work to put a stop to these great violations of human rights and environmental devastation. It’s also difficult to try the judicial route, with the legal tools that we have, to try to get justice.
Forexample, right now, we are in the middle of judiciary reform that a lot of people, like myself, believe is not a real plan to improve the state of the judiciary. Instead, it is said that it is a plan to destroy any kind of independence from the presidency and the legislature. So, instead of developing a better situation for justice, activists, and the communities, the future seems even more difficult.
"My organization believes in the power of the community..."
While this work is dangerous I continue to be inspired and hopeful.
In October 2024, I attended the Biodiversity COP (in Cali, Colombia), where an Indigenous leader said that spirituality gives them strength and hope. I believe that spirituality is my main strength. Also, the networks of the people, the communities, and the defenders I work with at the local and national level are a beautiful family that believes in conservation and environmental justice. I feel, even with these harsh conditions, that to share this space and laugh with them, I really, really love this community. This national and international community gives us strength. It is the people and the spirituality that keep us going.
This international community includes the LEAD Network.
My organization believes in the power of the community, which is why we are part of the LEAD network, which stands for Leaders Network for Environmental Activists and Defenders. The network is needed because the challenges that justice movements around the world face are huge. Impunity and corruption are common, along with cynicism. The violence against defenders and communities is becoming the new normal in this cynical extractivist system. That's why we need each other to not only complain about the harsh conditions but to dream of better times and act effectively as a global team and family. The projects that impact heavily on communities, the environment, and climate are not isolated. They are part of the global supply chain. The LEAD initiative is a facilitator for overcoming challenges and charting new paths for justice.
Find out more about Tsikini by visiting their website: www.tsikini.org or find them on social media (IG, Facebook, TikTok) as @TsikiniJ
This article, as narrated to Gugulethu Mhlungu, has been slightly edited for clarity.
The 2024-2025 In My Own Words Series was made possible thanks to funding from the Ford Foundation.