Woman defender María Auxilia Haro Romo denounces having received threats due to her opposition to Sonora’s Water Plan, which would negatively affect the Sonora River and surrounding communities. Among the threats was a threat to forcibly disappear her.

Mary Haro – as she is known – is a woman defender of territory and water who has emerged as a leading voice denouncing the environmental and social impacts of Sonora’s Water Plan, a project that includes the construction of three dams on the Sonora River. It should be noted that academic and scientific studies have highlighted the negative impacts of this water project on the Sonora River basin.

In addition to denouncing the situation, for months and alongside other organized women defenders in the Ures municipality and the affected communities, Mary has participated in “vigils” in the territory, after the entry – without prior consultation or notification – of heavy machinery and equipment on the territory where the first dam is expected to be built.

The National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders and IM-Defensoras recognize the important work of Mary Haro, her sister defenders and the communities that are resisting the imposition of the Sonora Water Plan, a project that threatens to destroy the Sonora River and the living conditions of the surrounding communities.

We also demand that the authorities at different levels of government – municipal, state and federal – take the necessary measures to guarantee her protection and her right to continue defending rights freely and safely. We hold the authorities responsible for any act that could violate the integrity and life of the woman defender, as well as any other member of the communities in resistance.

We call on the international community to express their solidarity with Mary Haro and those who defend the Sonora River, support their struggle and remain vigilant of the situation.