Mexican President Vicente Fox met yesterday with supporters of two jailed environmental activists and asked his lawyers to review whether the activists had been framed. Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, who led peasant farmers in Mexico’s southern state of Guerrero in protests against rampant logging in their region, have been sentenced to seven and 10 years in prison, respectively, for drug and weapons charges. Their supporters say the two were tortured into confessing to the charges — and their case has provoked an international outcry. Rodolfo Lacy Tamayo, a spokesperson for Fox’s Environment Ministry, said, “For us, it is very significant that they don’t remain jailed if it is because they were defending the environment.”
