Quintana Roo, (August 13, 2021).- Inhabitants of the Maya communities of Quintana Roo hope that the injunction against the Animal Protection and Welfare Law that they recently filed will be favorable since they do not want their uses and customs taken away from them.
Given this, Marco Antonio Náhuat Dzib, a delegate from the town of Chanchen Palmar, Tulum municipality, mentioned that they urge the defense authorities of the indigenous people to support the Maya communities.
He stated that several communities of the municipalities Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Tulum, and José María Morelos filed the appeal before the First District Court to grant them an injunction that allows them to carry out activities rooted in their religious and cultural festivities, such as cockfights and bullfighting events.
He commented that the representatives have acted against the culture and are banning their traditions, in this case they refer to cockfighting and bullfighting.
The delegate considered that this type of action goes against the culture and identity of the Maya peoples.
“It seems unfair to me that these kinds of decisions are made against the traditions that have been alive for hundreds of years,” he declared, adding that, in addition to being part of their traditions, they are also income-generating events at fairs that take place once a year.
In November 2019, the Animal Protection and Welfare Law was officially published, whose decree includes the prohibition of events such as bullfights and cockfights, as well as various activities involving animals, which entered on January 1, 2020.
Like last year, as a result of the pandemic, face-to-face events were suspended, there was no opportunity to apply this new law.
In this vein, federal magistrates and judges established that the legislation does not contravene public order or social interest and that it is above an affected private interest since any “living sentient being” cannot escape the maximum protection of the State, the integrity of those who are not in the capacity to decide autonomously about their destiny is at risk.
However, members of the indigenous peoples continue to request that this law be repealed or that they be granted protection in order to be able to continue organizing their annual fairs, which involve activities such as cockfighting and bullfighting.
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