Doña Maura's source of livelihood is in serious danger: the 47-year-old woman may lose her land. The foreign company TransCanada won the bid to build and operate the Tuxpan-Tula gas pipeline: a 250-kilometer system that will pass through Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo and the State of Mexico.
The route of the Tuxpan-Tula gas pipeline passes through the Otomí town of Chila de Juárez, Puebla, birthplace of Doña Maura, her husband Salvador and their three children. His family depends completely on his corn and peanut crops: a significant portion of the harvest is for self-consumption, and what little is left is sold. “Our land is very valuable; we eat from it, we sow in it, and without it, we cannot continue.”
The construction of this mega-project will require excavating a significant portion of Doña Maura's land, and she was promised that everything would be 'left in place' after the pipeline installation. She doesn't believe them; she knows that after the gas pipeline is installed, she won't be able to farm there again.
Doña Maura and the other residents of Chila de Juárez have organized to protect their heritage. She is determined not to leave her village because she was born there, grew up there, and will stand in defense of her land.