Photo: Indigenous protest in Chiapas. The banner says: “Megaprojects bring death. Out with the neoliberal projects. No to the Mayan train.”

On January 28, Mongabay reported: “The Tren Maya line is supposed to run 1,525 kilometers (948 miles) across Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Tabasco, Campeche and Chiapas, states with large Indigenous populations and high rates of biodiversity.”

It adds the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) is “responsible for an injunction alleging that officials failed to properly consult Indigenous communities before starting construction” and highlights that the failure to consult is “one of the most common claims against the Tren Maya project to date.”

Overall: “Twenty-five injunctions have been filed so far against different sections of the project by 327 plaintiffs… Many of the injunctions, aiming to pause or permanently stop the project, focus on deforestation and the loss of local ecosystems in and around protected areas… Others allege the government is committing human rights violations by displacing hundreds of residents living in the path of the train.”

CEMDA has also previously stated: “Since this defense process began, those involved, both in individual cases and collectively, have been targets of attacks, threats, delegitimization and criminalization for the mere fact of opposing this project.”

Ominously, the article also notes: “In late 2021, the Mexican government made a controversial announcement that many of the country’s major infrastructure projects, most notably the Tren Maya [Mayan Train] project being built across the Yucatán Peninsula, were now a matter of ‘national security.”

PBI accompaniment

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has commented: “The organizations that we accompany continue to be concerned about [Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s] position on the rights of indigenous populations, given that his public discourse seems to respect their autonomy, but he continues to propose initiatives of megaprojects such as the Mayan Train or new mining investments.”

Many organizations have signed this open letter that states the consultation of Indigenous peoples on this megaproject did not meet international standards.

Among the groups that signed that letter are the Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra y Agua Morelos, Puebla y Tlaxcala; Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos “Fray Juan de Larios”, A.C.; Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC); and Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña, Tlachinollan, A. C.

We continue to follow this.

Mayan Train route.

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    Mexico