On June 4, the ejidatarios of Tila publicly denounced that the National Forestry Commission (Conafor) is carrying out projects in their territory with the help of personnel from Amaref Company SA de C.V. without the consent of the ejidal assembly. The Chol Indians expressed that the three levels of government are violating Articles 14 and 16 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and the Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on the rights of indigenous peoples.
They added that “we know well that are they are taking samples and monitoring soils and natural resources throughout the region and across the country […] They are entering secretly in different territories to get biodiversity sampling.” They also noted that since May 25, a group of people unknown to the members of the ejido remained “in our territory for eight days. We observed that they were accompanied by the local police, and this shows that they are very well coordinated to harm people. They left on June 1, once again accompanied by the local police.” They also said that this is happening in other nearby villages. Finally, they reported their dissatisfaction with “the creation of the alleged university within our ejido to deceive the people,” because “they know that these lands can not be used as private property, as the ejido is common property and it is managed according to uses and customs.”
For more information (in Spanish)
Denuncia muestreo de Conafor y gestión de universidad sin consentimiento y a espaldas de la Asamblea (Blog La Otra Ejido Tila, 4 de junio de 2014)
Chiapas: “Enrique Peña Nieto esta ofreciendo nuestras tierras como en los tiempos de Porfirio Díaz”, denuncia el ejido Tila (Pozol Colectivo, 4 de junio de 2014)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English)
Chiapas: Ejidatarios from Tila denounced new attempt to loot land (January 22, 2014)
Chiapas: Supreme Court postpones new decision on Tila ejido (8 April 2013)
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