A political confrontation is unfolding in northeastern Mexico, where indigenous communities in the Huasteca Potosina region are challenging President Claudia Sheinbaum’s decision to legalize and promote hydraulic fracking.
After years of an official ban and widespread political opposition to the practice, the current administration has reversed course, citing national energy sovereignty. However, indigenous leaders from the Tének and Náhuatl peoples maintain that the government has violated their constitutional rights by failing to conduct legally mandated consultations before approving extraction projects on their ancestral lands.
The Dangers of Fracking
Opponents cite severe environmental and health risks associated with fracking. Hydraulic fracturing involves injecting a mixture of water, sand, and chemical additives at extremely high pressure to fracture rock formations and release trapped oil and gas. For a single well, this process requires approximately 29 million liters of water and over 600 toxic chemicals.
Environmental impact assessments indicate that the proposed polygons (Castaña and Maguey) contain 200 perennial bodies of water and 1,306 intermittent streams. Indigenous leaders warn that these water sources—including the Valles, Pujal, Coy, Tampaon, Huichihuayan, and Moctezuma rivers—would face severe contamination from chemical injection and methane release.
“The fracking requires millions of liters of fresh water per well that will be extracted from aquifers vital for human consumption and agricultural activity,” indigenous representatives stated in a formal declaration. “There is no sovereignty possible if we sacrifice the health of our population”.
The coalition further warns that claims of ecological fracking or non-damaging extraction techniques are scientifically false. “There is no way that the exploration of shale gas and oil can be a clean activity. The injection of chemicals and the release of methane are undeniable technical realities,” they assert.
Indigenous Leadership and the Slogan of Resistance
At the forefront of the opposition is Jaquelina Fernández Acosta, a Tének teacher from Tamaletón and a vocal defender of indigenous rights. During the International Day of Indigenous Women ceremony in September 2025, while receiving an award from the state’s Indigenous Development Institute (INDEPI), Fernández Acosta used the platform to protest fracking projects. She held up a sign written in her native Tének language expressing her community’s rejection of the practice.
Fernández Acosta has popularized the slogan “not here, not there, not anywhere” (aquí no, allí no, en ningún lado), which has become a rallying cry for affected communities.
The slogan summarizes a position of total opposition to hydraulic fracturing, rejecting any compromise that would permit the practice in some locations while prohibiting it in others. This position reflects the community’s understanding that water systems are interconnected and that contamination in one area inevitably affects surrounding regions.
Fracking and Consultation Rights
The central legal argument made by indigenous groups rests on the absence of prior consultation. Mexican constitutional law, particularly Article 2 of the Constitution, along with international instruments such as the International Labor Organization’s Convention 169 (ratified by Mexico), requires that indigenous communities be consulted before any project that could affect their territories or ways of life. These consultations must be “prior, free, informed, culturally appropriate, and in good faith.”
Indigenous leaders assert that no such consultation process has occurred regarding the fracking projects planned for the Huasteca. “We warn that any attempt to implement fracking on indigenous territories without prior, free, and informed consultation is born with a defect of origin,” the communities declared in an April 2026 statement.
Rejection Despite Government Claims
Despite the federal government’s efforts to move forward with planning, resistance on the ground remains firm. On June 5, the 5th Regional Forum, titled “No to Fracking, in Defense of Territory, Water, and Life,” was held in Huehuetlán, drawing massive participation from Tének and Náhuatl communities, agrarian authorities, municipal officials, civil organizations, agricultural producers, tourism representatives, and researchers.
The assembly reached a unanimous agreement to reject and prevent fracking in their territories.