Chiapas: Federal Court Orders Suspension of Palenque Section of Maya Train; FONATUR Considers Injunction “Unfair”

tren_maya Photo: yoinfluyo.com

On May 8th, the organization Indignation, Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, AC, based in Yucatan, reported that a federal judge granted an injunction to indigenous people in Chiapas by ordering that the works of the Maya Train be suspended in the section from Palenque.

The request for the injunction had been presented by indigenous people from Palenque, Ocosingo and Salto de Agua before the issuance of the agreement of April 6th and the decree of April 23rd, by which the continuation of the project was determined despite the pandemic of the Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Indignation, Promotion and Defense of Human Rights declared that the court “determined it appropriate to grant the suspension, because at this time it must give a preponderant value to the right to health of the complainants.”

“The work involved in such infrastructure requires the deployment of various activities that must be carried out by a large group of people and, consequently, they will require various essential and non-essential services in the community, which will lead to an increase in activities in their public areas”, argued the judge. For the same reason, he considered that “this situation would undoubtedly increase the risk of the inhabitants of the Maya Ch’ol community of contracting the COVID-19 virus and in that same proportion would decrease the possibility of being treated and recovering by evading the rules given by the health authorities for the containment of the multicited virus.”

Indignation explained that although the suspension is provisional (the final decision will be resolved in a hearing on May 14th), it allows the potential damages that the project will cause to become visible.

For its part, the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (FONATUR) assured that it has not been officially notified of the injunction. In advance, it considered the provisional suspension against construction inadmissible. This, it argued, because it is a railway communication line currently in operation and the work involved is maintenance. It also stated that the works are carried out in strict adherence to the sanitary protocols of protection measures in works in the current context.

For more information in Spanish:

Juez federal otorga amparo contra Tren Maya en Palenque (La Jornada, 9 de mayo de 2020)

Fonatur considera “improcedente” suspensión provisional contra las obras del Tren Maya en Chiapas (Sin Embargo, 9 de mayo de 2020)

Jueza suspende obras del Tren Maya en Palenque; Fonatur desestima resolución (Proceso, 8 de mayo de 2020)

Jueza federal concede suspensión de Tren Maya en tramo de Palenque, por Covid-19(Contralínea, 8 de mayo de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Online Forum “No to the Misnamed Maya Train”(May 5, 2020)

National: Almost 200 Organizations Demand Halt to Maya Train Works During Emergency; AMLO Confirms Megaprojects Will Continue (April 25, 2020)