The November 13 arrest of activist and environmentalist Isaac Cárdenas has raised alarm among social movements in Nayarit, western Mexico. Cárdenas was arrested by agents of the local prosecutor’s office in his home in Tepic, the state capital, and transferred to a prison on charges of “outraging morals and good customs”. The activist actively participated against the demolition of the so-called City of Arts to build a football stadium, a project worth 300 million pesos (about 15 million dollars) surrounded by criticism and promoted by the governor, Miguel Ángel Navarro, of Morena. “This is an attempt by the Nayarit government to criminalize citizens’ protests and to silence voices that are not in its favor,” warn Cárdenas’ colleagues.
The activist is one of the most visible faces of the opposition to the destruction of the cultural complex ordered by Governor Navarro. He maintained an active presence on social networks, his voice mobilized dozens of young people and he constantly denounced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. “It is a stadium based on illegality, because there is no public consultation, nor have there been tenders. It is a stadium that is not economically sustainable and, as we have repeated, 300 million pesos would not hurt a poor municipality to save public spaces,” the activist told this medium in June. A court in Nayarit ordered construction of the stadium to be suspended this summer.
Cárdenas’ arrest sparked outrage among his colleagues and generated a slew of criticism. Iteso (Western Institute of Technology and Higher Studies), a Jesuit university in Guadalajara, issued a statement demanding that authorities respect due process guarantees in the Cárdenas case. “In an adverse context, in which violence against defenders of human rights and territories prevails, we ask for their protection from state power, ensuring that all judicial and administrative processes are carried out in a fair, legal and respectful manner,” the university asked. Federal deputies linked to Morena and Senator Ivideliza Reyes, of the right-wing PAN, who went to the local prosecutor’s office, but was not received by the authorities, also spoke.
Cárdenas was placed under house arrest this Monday, while his trial, considered false by his lawyers, continues. In a video released by the movement that defends the City of Arts, the activist thanked his colleagues for their support and denounced being a “victim” of the Prosecutor’s Office and the State Government, “incriminating me for acts I did not commit”. Cárdenas was arrested while sharing a room with another man, Edgar Iván, who was also arrested. “They didn’t hit me, they hit a people without justice, all the activists of Mexico,” Cárdenas said. “They tried to intimidate the people of Nayarit, a society that seeks justice and peace,” Cárdenas said.
