The Mexican Center for Environmental Law, A.C. (CEMDA) is a non-governmental, apolitical, non-profit organization that has been working for 30 years to defend the environment and natural resources, whose fundamental axis of work is the strengthening, consolidation, harmonization, application and effective compliance of the current environmental legal system.
The following is the message sent by The Mexican Center for Environmental Law, A.C. (CEMDA) to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador:
Insecurity and attacks against indigenous communities in Campeche continue around the Tren Maya project.
Representatives of the ejidos Don Samuel, Miguel Alemán, Haro, Escárcega, División del Norte and Candelaria in the state of Campeche, once again make an urgent call to the Federal government, headed by the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to guarantee our safety and that of our families, in the face of the attacks and violations of human rights that we are facing in our communities.
A month ago we issued a press release in which we publicly denounced a series of frauds and extortions, as well as violations of human rights by the company Barrientos y Asociados, S.A. de C.V., hired by the National Fund for Tourism Development (Fonatur) to carry out the negotiation for the release of the rights of way for the project called “Tren Maya”.
Currently, the situation of insecurity has increased in our communities, since several people in our ejidos have been threatened and intimidated, even through the presence of the Mexican Army. Faced with this, we know that together we are stronger, which is why we have formed a Union of ejido commissioners, through which we will jointly decide on issues related to the “Tren Maya” project that affect our land, territory and natural resources. We will not negotiate individually with any company or government entity, but from now on, if negotiations are resumed, they must be with the ejido block.
Likewise, we demand to have the necessary information, in a prior, timely manner and in a culturally appropriate format, before we are asked to approve or make decisions regarding this or any other issue that impacts our communities in the short, medium and long term.
As we have already denounced on previous occasions, the negotiation process that the company Barrientos y Asociados started in several of our communities was riddled with flaws and, in each case, various irregularities were committed, although the way of operating was the same in general terms: a person appeared in the communities, identifying himself as the legal representative of Barrientos y Asociados, with a friendly attitude and in support of the ejido to gain the trust of the representatives, saying that he was there to carry out the negotiations for the payment of rights of way for the “Tren Maya”. This person -the same in all cases- in several communities sought to obtain our authorization, even drew up minutes in some ejidos, without having the majority of signatures of the Assembly, and without the presence of any agrarian authority; in addition, no copy has been delivered to the ejidatarios so far.
Later, in some cases checks were delivered to ejidal representatives in the Federal Palace, without providing further information, documents or clarifications on the amounts. However, the representative of Barrientos and Associates asked the ejidatarios to return most of the money in cash, once the checks were cashed, arguing that it was the payment for the company’s professional services and management. The people who refused or who asked for documents and explanations were manipulated, threatened, intimidated and even extorted by the representative of said company.
In the case of the Candelaria ejido, we have received threats and pressure from various political actors to withdraw the protection we have presented. As we have previously pointed out, our community was already in this territory before the roads were built and, despite this, they insist on evicting us and harassing us, arguing that we are invaders.
We consider it important to reiterate that, throughout this time, the representatives of the ejidos have always requested information on the scope of the “Tren Maya” project, and they have never given us the technical, legal, environmental and social documents on the impacts to be generated, they only pressure us to grant temporary occupation.
In recent days, in some ejidos we have received visits from representatives of the Agrarian Attorney General’s Office and Fonatur. However, the information and support they provide us continues to be insufficient and unclear, despite the fact that, as authorities, they should be the first responsible for ensuring that respect for our human rights is guaranteed.
With information from CEMDA.org
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