Huexca

Huexca lies in eastern Morelos at 1,417 metres, about 10 km south of Yecapixtla and some 15 km east of Cuautla. In 2020 it had 1,153 residents, up from 969 in 2010. A paved road links it to Yecapixtla, and the climate is warm (about 20.8 °C annual mean). Its name is tied today above all to an energy project.

On a site of about 45 hectares beside the village, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad built two combined-cycle thermoelectric plants between 2011 and 2019, part of the Proyecto Integral Morelos, which also includes a gas pipeline skirting Popocatépetl. From 16 May 2012 residents blocked the access roads, and the opposition centred on water (the plant needs about 500 litres a second of treated water), pollution of the Cuautla river and the risk of a pipeline in volcanic terrain. On 20 February 2019 the indigenous activist Samir Flores Soberanes was murdered, and the crime remains unsolved; days later, on 23 and 24 February, the federal government held a consultation to keep the project going.

For a visitor there are no monuments or tourist services. The plant can be seen from the surroundings, and the village mostly helps you understand a recent conflict over water and land in Morelos. Go by day, be respectful, and do not photograph people without asking.