On a sweltering July afternoon, two large yellow bulldozers dug into the brown soil at the bottom of a lush avocado orchard near the small town of Madero, located in central Mexico’s Michoacán state. Drone footage recorded by Reuters captured the earth movers hollowing the ground, in what Mexican environmental group Guardian Forestal — which collaborates with the Michoacán state government — and an activist who reviewed the video described as an attempt to construct a water reservoir.
Climate Rights International, whose findings are cited in the Organic Consumers Association’s lawsuits, said it has documented more than 30 threats or acts of intimidation associated with the expanded avocado trade, including four abductions and five fatal shootings. One Madero farmer, who asked to remain anonymous due to concerns for his safety, said he was was kidnapped after he protested deforestation. “If they only knew ...