Reporter Mark Stevenson, video journalist Fernanda Pesce, photographer Fernando Llano and video producer Teresa De Miguel in Mexico City teamed up on strong reporting from the field to elevate coverage of a global report on environmental activists killed around the world.
When the non-governmental organization Global Witness reached out to AP and other organizations about its annual report — 200 environmental activists killed globally in 2021 — AP decided to go beyond the announcement itself to find a story illustrating the findings.
Mexico City-based reporter Mark Stevenson, right, interviews César Cota, a water activist and member of the Yaqui tribe, on the Oviachic dam near Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, Sept. 27, 2022.
AP Photo / Fernando Llano
Global Witness said Mexico was the deadliest place in the world for environmental and land defense activists in 2021, with 54 people killed last year. De Miguel began searching for a subject, eventually landing on one in the state of Sonora, just south of the Arizona border. She shared initial contacts with her Mexico collegues, and within days, Stevenson, Pesce and Llano traveled to the town of Vicam, where they told the story of Yaqui Indigenous water-rights activist Tomás Rojo, found dead in June 2021.
The Yaqui River lies virtually dry on the outskirts of Vicam, Mexico, Sept. 26, 2022. Activist Tomás Rojo was killed in June 2021 after 10 years of leading protests and civil disobedience in defense of the Yaqui Indigenous people’s water and land rights.
AP Photo / Fernando Llano
Tomás Rojo stands before a framed imaged of his father, Indigenous rights leader Tomás Rojo, during his father’s burial service in the Yaqui Indigenous community Vicam, Sonora state, Mexico, July 10, 2021. Roja was found half-buried nearly three weeks after he disappeared in May 2021 amid tensions over Yaqui highway roadblocks protesting gas ducts, water pipelines and railway lines that have been built across their ancestral territory. Authorities claim Rojo was killed by a local drug gang that wanted money from the Yaquis, but people who knew him say he was killed by the powerful interests that stand to profit from the Yaquis’ land and water rights.
AP Photo / Luis Gutierrez
Yaqui Indigenous girls play in water from a leak outside their home in Pótam, Sonora state, Mexico, hometown of slain water-rights activist Tomás Rojo, Sept. 27, 2022. Only those wealthy enough to buy and operate small electric pumps have running water.
AP Photo / Fernando Llano
The Oviachic dam is at half capacity near Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, Sept. 27, 2022. An Indigenous movement to defend the Yaqui tribe’s water was born after the government built this dam to divert Yaqui water to the rapidly-growing capital city of Hermosillo in 2010. Activist Tomás Rojo was killed in June 2021 after 10 years defending Yaqui water and land rights.
AP Photo / Fernando Llano
A Yaqui Indigenous family walks past the cemetery where slain water-defense leader Tomás Rojo is buried, outside a church where they were celebratinmg the Virgin Mary in Potam, Sonora state, Mexico, Sept. 27, 2022. The Yaqui Indigenous people of northern Mexico are still mourning the 2021 killing of Rojo.
AP Photo / Fernando Llano
A Yaqui Indigenous man removes his hat as he enters the church where slain water-defense leader Tomás Rojo is buried in the outdoor cemetery, in Potam, Sonora state, Mexico, Sept. 27, 2022. With little water, widespread poverty and no farm work available, younger Yaquis have begun to migrate to nearby cities and the U.S. border city of Nogales, seldom returning.
AP Photo / Fernando Llano
Authorities claim Rojo was killed by a local drug gang that wanted money from the Yaquis, but people who knew him say he was killed by the powerful interests that stand to profit from the Yaquis’ land and water rights.
While most other news outlets were content to publish just the findings of the Global Witness report, the AP team’s on-the-ground reporting produced a vivid all-formats package that added a human dimension to the sobering numbers.