Protest against Mexico infrastructure projects

More than a thousand people marched through the centre of Mexico City on Friday in opposition to some of the government's largest infrastructure projects.

The protest brought together unions, environmentalists, students and representatives of Mexico's indigenous peoples, a mix that would seem a natural base for populist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, but which has become among his most vocal critics.

The march came a day after the anniversary of the death of activist Samir Flores Soberanes, who had protested against a gas-fired power plant in Morelos state. Flores was killed days before a referendum on the nearly completed project and his murder remains unsolved.

Many in Friday's march carried signs referencing his death. An assembly of indigenous peoples and their allies was scheduled for Saturday in Amilcingo, Morelos.

"As the government of Andrés Manuel (Lopez Obrador) launched the process of consultation on the thermoelectric (plant project), during that process it was that our comrade Samir (Flores Soberanes) was killed" recalled Jaime Dominguez Perez, a member of the People's Front in Defence of Land and Water of Tlaxcala.

A demonstrator on stilts showed his opposition to López Obrador's Maya Train project that would move tourists around the Yucatan Peninsula, with a sign calling the train an "Express of Death."

The train is one of López Obrador's signature initiatives to spur economic development in Mexico's southeast, but has faced criticism for its environmental impact.

Others were against a rail line that would traverse Mexico's isthmus, connecting the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, and a massive new oil refinery and gas-fired power plant.

Teresa Castellanos Ruiz from Huexca in the state of Morelos said her state was not the only one under attack. "They are leaving us all without life."