MEXICO CITY (AP) — A community activist fighting against a plan to build a gas pipeline through his central Mexico town has been killed three days before a scheduled public referendum on the project.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador condemned Wednesday's murder of Samir Flores Soberanes as "vile, cowardly." But Lopez Obrador said the public referendum on the Morelos Comprehensive Project will go on as scheduled.
Local communities have been fighting for years against the project, which would include two thermoelectric plants, the gas pipeline and an aqueduct. The mostly indigenous communities around the Popocatepetl volcano have concerns about health, safety and the water supply.
Flores' community of Amilcingo is among those opposing the referendum. Local press report Flores was shot as he exited his home early Wednesday. Details and the motive remain unclear.
