Death threats against environmental human rights defender Teresa Roldán Soria
On 8 November 2020, unidentified individuals set fire to the surroundings of Teresa Roldán Soria's home in Corregidora, Querétaro, while her children slept at home. This followed events of 6 November 2020 when an anonymous note was left with a threatening message at the woman human rights defender’s home.
Teresa Roldán is an environmental human rights defender who works in the State of Querétaro. Since 2016, she has been actively involved in the defence of areas of great ecological value such as the nature reserves of Peña Colorada, El Batán, Ejido el Zapote (Tierra Noble), El Salitre, El Tangano, Punto Olivo El Cimatario and areas of the Metropolitan Park in Corregidora, against deforestation and housing development.
On 8 November 2020, unidentified individuals set fire to the surroundings of Teresa Roldán Soria's home in Corregidora, Querétaro, while her children slept at home. This followed events of 6 November 2020 when an anonymous note was left with a threatening message at the woman human rights defender’s home.
Teresa Roldán is an environmental human rights defender who works in the State of Querétaro. Since 2016, she has been actively involved in the defence of areas of great ecological value such as the nature reserves of Peña Colorada, El Batán, Ejido el Zapote (Tierra Noble), El Salitre, El Tangano, Punto Olivo El Cimatario and areas of the Metropolitan Park in Corregidora, against deforestation and housing development.
On 6 November 2020, unknown individuals threw a bottle, which contained a death threat with an intimidating message, at Teresa Roldán's residence in Corregidora, Querétaro. The message was written by individuals who identified themselves as "the people of Jalisco", and they threatened to further retaliation against her and her family if she did not leave the State of Querétaro.
On 8 November 2020, unidentified individuals set fire to the surroundings of Roldán's home after she left to the market, and her children slept in the house. The same day, Teresa Roldán spoke about the recent events in a video which she posted to social media. On 9 November she made a formal complaint to the Attorney General's Office in Querétaro about the threat and attack against her and her family.
Teresa Roldán believes that the recent intimidation is in retaliation for her work in defence of the environment, advocating against deforestation and housing developments constructed on nature reserves in Querétaro, particularly those of: El Batán, El Salitre, El Tangano, as well as El Zapote and the Metropolitan Park in Corregidora.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned by the threats against the woman human rights defender Teresa Roldán, as they not only put her life and integrity at risk, but also that of her children and relatives. These incidents demonstrate the dangerous environment in which environmental defenders carry out their work in Mexico, where threats and violence are frequently used to discourage them from carrying out their legitimate and peaceful work.
