2016- Municipal assemblies vote against mining

The increasing concern of different communities in the Montaña and Costa Chica region about mining concessions also resulted in a parallel legal process using Guerrero State’s municipal law to reject mining and prevent authorities endorsing extractive projects. 

In 2016, municipal level assemblies (cabildos abiertos) were promoted and supervised by CRAADET with the municipal authorities of Malinaltepec and Iliatenco. These resulted in decisions that municipal administrations would not issue change-of-use-of-soil permits required to allow industrial mining projects affecting the municipalities. These were the first municipal level assemblies organized to reject mining (CDMH Tlachinollan, 2016: 169). In 2019, at CRAADET’s 7th anniversary event, the municipal authorities of neighbouring San Luis Acatlán made the commitment to declare their municipality a territory free of mining (for information on indigenous community assemblies see Legal Action entitled “2011- Indigenous communities reject mining in their territories”).