National: CNI Files Injunction against Five Megaprojects and Complaint to IACHR on Indigenous Peoples’ Day

@SIPAZ archivo

At a press conference held within the framework of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, members of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and the Metropolitan Anticapitalist and Antipatriarchal Coordination reported on two legal appeals that they presented against five megaprojects of the Mexican government. Not only did they file an indirect appeal before the Fifteenth Court of the Administrative Matters District in Mexico City, but also a complaint before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) for serious violations of their human rights.

“The laws that exist are prescribed by companies that approach the legislators so that the dispossession becomes legal. The laws are not a great hope for us, but now we turn to both national and international courts to make sure that we want to fight and that justice can be done to us through this means ”, Pedro Regalado Uc, defender of the Mayan territory at the conference, announced.

The projects in question are the so-called Maya Train in the south-east of the country, the Trans-isthmic Corridor, the International Airport in Santa Lucía, the Dos Bocas refinery (Tabasco) and the Morelos Comprehensive Project. The organizations denounced that a consultation was not carried out in accordance with international standards according to which it should be free, prior, informed, culturally appropriate and in good faith. In addition, they criticized the damage to the cultural and archaeological heritage that these projects will cause, as well as failures in administrative aspects on issues such as land use and construction regulations.

This is not the first time that opponents of the government’s megaprojects have taken legal measures to intervene in their implementation: the organization Indignation, Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (Indignación, Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos A.C.) reported that at the end of July a definitive suspension was achieved for the Ch’ol indigenous people, which means that the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (FONATUR) will have to stop any work related to section one of the Maya Train project. However, FONATUR declared that the injunction has not yet been definitively resolved. Likewise, protections were won in the case of the community of Xpujil, Campeche, and the thermoelectric plant of the Morelos Comprehensive Plan, which has not yet come into operation.

Carlos Gonzalez Garcia, advisor to the CNI, pointed out that these “development” projects only “obey the geopolitical interests of the United States”, since they must function as a “curtain” to cut off the migratory flow from Central America and Mexico.

Victor Caballero, from the Aequus Collective for the promotion and defense of human rights, denounced that the development argument to implement these projects has already been used by previous governments. In addition to that currently, during the health crisis, the same implementation has accelerated even with the presence of the military.

For more information in Spanish:

Conferencia de prensa: Recursos legales en contra de los megaproyectos violatorios de derechos humanos (Congreso Nacional Indígena, 9 de agosto de 2020)

Presentan amparo y queja ante la CIDH por cinco megaproyectos (Pie de Página, 11 de agosto de 2020)

Organizaciones interponen amparo contra cinco megaproyectos federales y una queja ante la CIDH (Desinformémonos, 11 de agosto de 2020)

Organizaciones nacionales interponen amparos vs. cinco megaproyectos federales, entre ellos el Gasoducto Morelos (La Jornada Oriente, 11 de agosto de 2020)

Organizaciones presentan amparo y queja ante la CIDH contra 5 megaproyectos de la 4T (Pulso el 10 de agosto de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional : Da AMLO banderazo del Tren Maya entre la pandemia y la inconformidad de la sociedad civil. (June 5, 2020)

Chiapas/National: Provisional Suspension of Maya Train Revoked in Pandemic (June 4, 2020)

Chiapas / Nacional : En medio de la pandemia, revocan suspensión provisional del Tren Maya y AMLO prevé dar banderazo de salida. (May 28. 2020)

National: CNDH Issues Precautionary Measures for Indigenous Peoples of Yucatan and Requests Halt to Maya Train Works (May 18, 2020)

CHIAPAS: FEDERAL COURT ORDERS SUSPENSION OF PALENQUE SECTION OF MAYA TRAIN; FONATUR CONSIDERS INJUNCTION “UNFAIR” (MAY 13, 2020)

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