Stigmatisation of human rights defender and lawyer Carlos González García

On 30 October 2025, Judith Vanegas Tapia, member of Congress for the Morena political party and representative for Tláhuac and Milpa Alta, made statements stigmatising human rights defender and indigenous rights lawyer, Carlos González García, a member of the Congreso Nacional Indígena (National Indigenous Congress).

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Carlos González García is a human rights defender from Mexico, lawyer for indigenous communities, and founding member of the Congreso Nacional Indígena (National Indigenous Congress). He is one of the most renowned lawyers in the agricultural sector and has supported communities in various proceedings involving indigenous resistance against dispossession, megaprojects and structural violence. He has been the lawyer for the Milpa Alta communities based in Mexico City for many years.

On 30 October 2025, a working group meeting between the Mexico City Congress, the Mexico City Institute for Democratic Planning and Prospective Studies and other authorities was broadcast, on the official Facebook page of the Congress of Mexico City, addressing the city’s territorial planning. However, during that meeting, the Morena Congress member Judith Vanega Tapia took the opportunity to make stigmatising remarks against human rights defender Carlos González García. She referred to the human rights defender as “a historical enemy of everything that is attempted” (by the government), claiming that he incites indigenous people and communities. Judith Vanega also referred to his previous work in opposition to projects of current President Claudia Sheinbaum when she was Head of Government of Mexico City. She also stated, “so yes, we need to look into this”, referring to the defender. She further stated that President Claudia Sheinbaum “knows who he is, knows that he will rise up”, implying that she considers him an obstacle to the government's projects (these remarks were clearly made in the context of Carlos Gonzalez Garcia’s work as a defender of human rights).

These comments contribute to an environment of stigmatisation against Carlos González García, constituting a threat to his work as human rights defender. They also increase the risk of danger to his life, integrity and safety, especially when considering the high-risk context in which he continues to work, particularly in Milpa Alta, where the communities that Carlos García accompanies as a lawyer face risks due to territorial disputes and growing urban and real estate pressures threatening indigenous communal lands. The comments are also made in the context of increased stigmatisation and criminalisation of indigenous human rights defenders who work to protect their communities and safeguard their ancestral land rights in Mexico, a trend that has been widely documented by Front Line Defenders.

Front Line Defenders expresses its concern over the comments that stigmatise human rights defender, Carlos González García. Front Line Defenders is concerned that these statements risk delegitimising his work which supports the rights of indigenous communities. Front Line Defenders recalls the obligation of the authorities in Mexico to protect human rights defenders and create an environment in which they may carry out their work freely, without facing hostility or aggression.

Front Line Defenders calls on the authorities in Mexico to:

1. Cease any stigmatisation of human rights defender, Carlos González García and publicly recognise his work as defending human rights;
2. Take urgent and necessary measures to ensure that government officials refrain from publicly stigmatising defenders of human rights, particularly in the context of increasing stigmatisation of those who legitimately defend land rights, territory and indigenous peoples;
3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Mexico, including those who defend the rights of indigenous peoples, land and territory, are able to legitimately carry out their work without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.