abolitionmediaPeoples Reject Sheinbaum’s Visit to Morelos for the Anniversary of the Zapata’s Death
Indigenous peoples and organizations rejected President Claudia Sheinbaum’s visit to the Hacienda de Chinameca in Morelos on the occasion of the 107th anniversary of Emiliano Zapata’s assassination, asserting that her actions against communities—such as the lack of justice for community defender Samir Flores and the operation of the Huexca thermoelectric plant—contradict the revolutionary’s “ideology and legacy.”
“The celebratory statements regarding historical Zapatismo by the nation’s president and our state’s governor have not been accompanied by decisive actions to shed light on these crimes, nor by policies of listening to the peoples,” they stated in a declaration, in which they expressed their distrust of the leaders’ words.
“We recall that in the first year of López Obrador’s administration, declared nationally as the Year of Zapata, was the year of the murder of our comrade Samir Flores Soberanes,” a Nahua activist who fought against the Morelos Integral Project (PIM) and was murdered on February 20, 2019, the communities noted.
That year, the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water (FPDTA) of Morelos, Puebla, and Tlaxcala, together with the National Indigenous Congress and the communities of Huexca, Amilcingo, Ayala, and other areas, occupied the Hacienda de Chinameca “in protest against President López Obrador,” who sought to honor Zapata there, “while as president he betrayed his word to cancel the thermoelectric plant and the gas pipeline and also carried out a consultation that was clearly in defense of the thermoelectric plant,” which was not suspended following the death of Flores Soberanes.
More than seven years after the murder, the communities stated, “we have no justice, in the same situation, now with our murdered comrade Sandra Rosa Camacho, a human rights defender and defender of traditional customs in the municipality of Temoac—all because impunity reigns in the country. With this visit, on the one hand, the state seeks to reclaim the figure of Zapata, and on the other, it contradicts his ideology and legacy.”
They also reiterated that the thermoelectric plant of the Morelos Integral Project remains active and pollutes the waters of the Cuautla River, in addition to causing noise and air pollution in the community of Huexca.
The communities and organizations demanded an end to impunity and called for an investigation into the murder of Samir Flores, as well as for former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, former Morelos Governor Cuauhtémoc Blanco, current Congressman Hugo Eric Flores, former Morelos Attorney General Uriel Carmona, Valentín Lavin, and Angelina N, alias La Patrona, to be summoned to testify.
“We demand justice for Samir and the peoples of Morelos, and we celebrate the legacy we make our own—from below, popular, and to the left of Emiliano Zapata—which lives on in the organized autonomous communities that the government refuses to see or hear, and instead attacks,” they concluded.
Below is the full statement:
Let’s Celebrate Emiliano Zapata’s Anniversary with Justice
Justice for the people.
Justice for Samir
Chinameca, a place symbolic of the betrayal and assassination of Emiliano Zapata, will receive Mexico’s president and other officials for the government’s official recognition of Emiliano Zapata’s struggle, ideology, and enduring presence among the people.
We recall that in the first year of López Obrador’s administration—declared nationwide as the Year of Zapata—was the year of the assassination of our comrade Samir Flores Soberanes, 2019, a year in which, together with the National Indigenous Congress and the peoples of Huexca, Amilcingo, Ayala, and other regions, we gathered there to denounce President López Obrador and to honor General Zapata from that very place, while, as president, he betrayed his word to cancel the thermoelectric plant and the gas pipeline and, furthermore, carried out a consultation that was clearly in defense of the thermoelectric plant. This consultation took place following a series of forums organized by the federal government’s “superdelegate” for Morelos, the now-Zionist congressman Hugo Erik Flores, with whom our comrade Samir had engaged in a fierce debate just before he was murdered. His murder did not warrant suspending the referendum, in which—it must be remembered—if only the towns and communities affected by the power plant and the gas pipeline had been counted, the NO vote would have won. Instead, however, the large urban centers were also consulted, tipping the balance in favor of the YES vote.
Seven years later, we still have no justice; we find ourselves in the same situation, now with the murder of our compañera Sandra Rosa Camacho, a human rights defender and advocate for traditional customs in the municipality of Temoac—all because impunity reigns in this country. With this visit, on the one hand, the state seeks to reclaim Zapata’s legacy, while on the other, it contradicts his ideals and legacy.
The Morelos Comprehensive Project, centered around the Huexca thermoelectric plant, remains in place, polluting the waters of the Cuautla River and causing noise and air pollution in the community, since it is located just 300 meters from the community’s preschool, and it continues to poison the political climate—not only regionally but nationally—as the murder of our comrade Samir Flores Soberanes, a representative of the community opposition to the plan’s implementation, remains unpunished.
That is why—because the statements by the President of the nation and the governor of our state celebrating the legacy of Zapatismo have not been accompanied by decisive action to solve these crimes, nor by policies that truly listen to the people—we do not trust their words.
We demand an investigation into the murder of our brother Samir Flores and call on Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Hugo Eric Flores, Uriel Carmona, Valentín Lavin, and Angelina N, alias La Patrona, to testify.
It is wonderful that a museum is being built to house and highlight the participation of Zapatista women in the historic struggle of the Mexican Revolution, but at the same time, as women from Zapata’s homeland, we continue to carry the wound of being recognized in museums but not in everyday politics. The wound caused by the murders of Samir and Sandra is also ours.
That is why today, just as we have every year since 2019, we demand justice for Samir and the peoples of Morelos, and we celebrate the legacy we make our own—from below, popular, and to the left of Emiliano Zapata—which lives on in the organized autonomous communities that the government refuses to see or hear, and instead attacks.
Morelos, April 10, 2026
Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra y el Agua Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala
Red Morelense de apoyo al CIG-CNI Nuestra Alegre Rebeldía
Colectiva Diversa
Empalabrando colectivo
Unión de Comunidades Indígenas de la Zona Norte del Istmo de Tehuantepec, UCIZONI
Raíces en resistencia Tlatelolco, CDMX
Colectivo Luciérnagas que Siembran, CDMX
RAIS/Red de Apoyo Iztapalapa Sexta
Profes en la Sexta
Colectivo Gavilanas
Colectivo Cuaderno Común
Colectivo Cafetos
Colectivo La Otra Justicia
Colectivo La Grieta
Comunidad Tanezi Calli en Resistencia
Comunidad de XOCHITLANEZI
El Grupo de la Puerta, Puebla/CDMX
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas
Instituto Cultural Autónomo Rubén Jaramillo Ménez, Morelos
La Oveja Roja
Colectivo Tierra y Libertad Cuautla, Morelos
Sexta por la libre, Yucatán
Morada Tropikal El Teatrito Yucatán
Mínima Galería Íntima/Narraturgias de la Memoria
El bordado de Ramona
Colectivo Mujeres Tierra
Mexicali Resiste
Concejo Autónomo de Santiago Mexquititlán Amealco Querétaro
Espacio de lucha contra el olvidoy la represión . Elcor, Chiapas
Antsetik Ts’unun, mujeres defensoras de Chiapas
Red de Resistencias y Rebeldías AJMAQ, Chiapas
Partido de los Comunistas
Mexicanos Unidos
Brigada Callejera de apoyo a la mujer
Colectivo Criptopozol DDHH
Comité de Enlace Latinoamericano, CELC
Organización Popilar Francisco Villa de Izquierda Independiente
Concejo Indígena y Popular de Guerrero y Emiliano Zapata, CIPOG-EZ
Comunidad Indígena Otomí residente de la CDMX
UPREZ Benito Juárez
Café Zapata Vive
Juventud Comunista de México
Jorge Alonso, Ciesas Occidente
Alicia Castellanos Guerrero, UAM Iztapalapa
Gilberto López y Rivas, profesor investigador INAH Morelos
Efraín Rojas Bruschetta
Alberto Colín, adherente a la sexta
Calixto Trinidad Carbajal Balderas, de La Otra en el Sur de Morelos
Oralba Castillo Nájera de Nuestra Alegre Rebeldía
Márgara Millán, Red de feminismos descoloniales
Servando Gajá, Nuestra Alegre Rebeldía
José Antonio Olvera Llamas, Nuestra Alegre Rebeldía
María de Lourdes Lara López, Nuestra Alegue Rebeldía
Dr. Calixto Trinidad Carbajal Balderas de la Otra en el Sur de Morelos
Original text published by Desinformémonos on April 10th, 2026.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.
