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Renewable energy developers are creating rifts between those trying to preserve their ancestral lands and those who support the construction of the wind turbines.

Renewable energy developers are creating rifts between those trying to preserve their ancestral lands and those who support the construction of the wind turbines.

Photographer: Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg
Green
+ Equality

Wind Project Splinters a Mexico Region Prized for Powerful Gusts

EDF’s wind farm is in limbo after residents in the state of Oaxaca sought a court-ordered injunction.

Two years ago, an SUV carrying four men screeched to a halt in front of the house of German Valdivieso Diaz, where he still lives with his parents and two nephews. They demanded to know how to find Valdivieso. And then they threatened to kill him.

When the men left, Valdivieso said his terrified mother called, urging him to stay in Mexico City where he was taking a course—more than 700 kilometers (435 miles) northwest of their rural home in La Ventosa near the Pacific coastline.

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