About the Movimiento de Unificación Indígena de Nahuizalco and their community-led struggles
The Nahuizalco Indigenous Unification Movement (MUINA) is opposing the construction of an eighth dam on the Sensunapán River by the company Sensunapán S.A. de C.V., a project which has been threatening the territories and livelihoods of the Nahua Pipil indigenous communities for more than 20 years. Furthermore, they are resisting the expansion of an urban development project by the company Fénix S.A. at the Tacushcalco ceremonial site in Nahuilingo, which has led to the destruction of archaeological and cultural heritage.
The communities that make up MUINA are of Nahua Pipil origin and have historically suffered exclusion, land dispossession and discrimination. They are located in six rural communities in the municipality of Nahuizalco (Anal Abajo, Anal Arriba, Tatalpa, La Guacamaya, Pushtan and Tajcuilujlan), as well as in the Sisimitepet district and nearby areas such as Nahuilingo, where they also face the impacts of urban development projects. The movement works to defend the environmental, cultural and territorial rights of these communities, with an emphasis on water protection, the preservation of sacred sites and the continuation of their ways of life linked to small-scale fishing and the land.
MUINA pursues legal action, such as filing complaints with environmental and magistrates’ courts, as well as organising demonstrations, press conferences and community river clean-up days. Its work combines legal defence with community organisation, assemblies, awareness-raising campaigns and advocacy efforts to halt megaprojects that threaten their culture, territory and natural resources.