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The US-Mexico Agua Prieta Pipeline

The Agua Prieta pipeline is currently underway to be constructed in Yaqui tribe territory. According to its design, the Agua Prieta pipeline project stretches from Arizona, in the United States, to Sonora, Mexico. One portion of the pipeline is to cross 90 kilometers into Yaqui territory, which is protected by Mexican law. Building the pipeline without fair, transparent, and inclusive consultations with all the Yaqui communities would be a violation of the sovereignty of the Yaqui land, community leaders say.

The Yaqui people of Northern Mexico in the Sonora State are currently facing the construction of a natural gas pipeline being built in the city of Agua Prieta. They have previously faced a long history of oppression including frequent droughts, slavery and military attacks. Some call this occurrence, Mexico’s own version of Standing Rock. Yaqui territory is protected by Mexican law but “the construction plans were ratified without consent from the indigenous Yaqui tribe, who are currently protesting its crossing of their water source, Rio Yaqui.” The Gasoducto Agua Prieta, approved the construction by IENova on behalf of Mexico’s Federal Electric Commission in 2012, this would allow the trEditansportation of natural gas from Arizona, USA to the states of Sonora and Sinaloa in Mexico. “The line—a project of Sempra Energy—will transport gas from Arizona to the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa. Recently, members of Yaqui tribe in Loma de Bacum won a moratorium against the construction of the pipeline but plans to build the pipeline are still going on. As for the pipeline itself, gas that flows through it is mostly methane - a common greenhouse gas - which is known to cause climate change.

Relevant US Administrative Role & Mexican Policy

United States

The rush to build massive pipelines began before the election of President Trump, spurred in part by Congress's repeal of a 40-year-old ban on oil exports in December 2015 (backed by then-President Barack Obama). Even before that decision, the United States was already the world's largest exporter of diesel, gasoline, and aviation fuel, and a net exporter of coal. With a glut of oil and gas discoveries in the Marcellus, Barnett, and Bakken shale formations, an increase in American large-scale fossil fuel production has long been in the works and is expected to flourish in the coming years. Pipeline construction will likely expand under President Trump's new infrastructure plan; maps of pending projects for crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids show just how extensive this development will be. And the rollback of environmental regulations will only encourage new construction. "It is the policy of the executive branch to streamline and expedite," Trump announced in his executive order on pipelines.

Mexico

The pipeline's supporters attacked a group of protesters, killing one, wounding eight, and causing no small amount of property damage.

“The means that the Aguaprieta pipeline violates UN guidelines regarding such so-called ‘megaprojects’. First laid out in 2007, Article 26 and 27 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples broadly state that consultation is necessary before undertaking such a project, although this has been overlooked by officials in Sonora”.

Indigenous Resistance

Prior to the colonial project to the present, the tribe has maintained a high degree of consciousness and organization. According to scholar Stephen V. Lutes, "the Yaqui are notoriously sensitive about the issue of autonomy, even today, and have shown a will to resist the encroachments of alien colonists and authority" In 1609, the Yaquis beat Spanish invaders with 7,000 Yaqui invaders . Yaquis intermittently used military force to resist assimilation and disppossession by both Spaniards and Mexicans.

“The Yaqui tribe, which has endured this long history of repression, also has a history of mounting various resistance movements. Like other indigenous communities in Mexico, members of the Yaqui tribe have lost their lives fighting against invasive private companies and non-indigenous authorities. Just two years ago, before the conflict over the Agua Prieta pipeline, the Yaquis protested against a large-scale aqueduct that would have diverted what was left of their sacred river to the city of Hermosillo.”--https://intercontinentalcry.org/mexico-moves-ahead-controversial-pipeline-indigenous-land-despite-moratorium/

Building the pipeline without consultations that are deemed to be fair, transparent, and inclusive for all of the Yaqui communities would be a violation of the sovereignty of Yaqui land, community leaders say. Recently, members of the Yaqui tribe in Loma de Bácum won a moratorium against the construction of the pipeline.

Relevant History

The Yaqui are Native Americans who reside in the valley of the Rio Yaqui in Sonora, Mexico and the Southwestern US. The Yaqui Valley is fed by numerous tributaries which drain the eastern highlands as they flow from the escarpment of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the Gulf of California . The Yaqui has had a long history of clashing with developers on their land. The Yaqui have consistently been leading resistance movements to fight against private companies and authorities. Before the resisting the Agua Prieta pipeline, the Yaqui resisted the construction of an aqueduct. This would have diverted water from the sacred Yaqui River towards Hermosillo.

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Abducations, deaths, and disappearances

Environmental impacts

General - pipelines

Similar pipeline struggles

Menominee tribe in Keshena, Wisconsin are currently fighting to prevent an open pit sulfide mine from being built upstream in one of their most sacred sites. It is one of the most sacred sites where the mine would be built and is the birthplace for the Menominee people. Similarly to the US-Mexico Agua Prieta Pipeline, the indigenous people are fighting for their sacred lands that are protected under law.

In Canada, Justin Trudeau, the prime minister announced the government's approval of the Line 3 pipeline project. This pipeline would transfer tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. A dilemma arises for the Anishinaabe tribe as the pipeline will cut across their indigenous lands and important environmental features. Similar to the Agua Prieta pipeline, both pipelines have not been built yet but do leave off the decisions and opinions of the indigenous people.