Indigenous Peoples of
the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Manifesto on the Maya
Train Megaproject
November 16, 2018
TO THE PRESIDENT ELECT:
ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR
TO THE PUBLIC OPINION
The indigenous communities of the Yucatan Peninsula who
are signatories here now bring forward to the national attention and in
particular to the next public administration, that being attentive to the
latest news circulated in the mass media whereby we have come to know about a so-called
"consultation" and the imminent start-up of the megaproject called the
Maya Train [Tren Maya], in this regard we state the following:
Since the last administration we have been expectant about the Maya Train megaproject, we have followed the project's trajectory promptly and ever since the project was first proposed we have been attentive to its development. We declare that from that initial moment we have disapproved of the project and do not favor its continuation as it violates our indigenous rights to which we are subjects that are enshrined in our Political Constitution.
We had hoped with the change of administration that we, the indigenous communities, would become visible to the government of the National Federation and the means by which the Maya Train megaproject was being developed would be reconsidered but to our dismay we are stunned to realized that in this new administration, history will not change and the justice that may have been expected will not be the case for the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico.
With respect to the so-called consultation we reject from this moment any derived result that may be either for or against, as it is not permissible for anyone, for any person outside of the Yucatan Peninsula, to decide what can be done or not done in our territories as we in turn would never try to decide what will be shall be done with the property, rights and possessions of other regions.
A true consultation for our Indigenous Peoples must comply with the following guiding principles: FREE, PRIOR, and INFORMED CONSENT in GOOD FAITH and in CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE MANNER as provided by law. None of these criteria have been met by the Maya Train megaproject, and today in fact the project has already been initiated and for proof of this we already have, among other things, budgets, bids, plans, and even official announcement of the construction start date. Yet with our indigenous communities there has been absolutely no agreement regarding anything with anybody. The only information we have is what the newscasts have transmitted and the leaks that have come to us; officially there is has been no public authority that has met to talk with us despite the fact that the physical project intends to to be constructed on our territories. And to speak of good faith, this does simply does not exist, everything has been carried on behind our backs and were the project to be culturally appropriate in the first place we would require that any decision to be made in the presence of our representatives and in our territories.
The Maya Train megaproject like many others of this nature we are sure will not bring us either benefits or regional development. It is not being planned for us common people, it is a tourist project that will only benefit the wealthy and the market of foreigners. We, the owners of the land, will only see a passing train, since the stations are not located in most of our towns and our communities are only being considered as points of interest for the tourists. Even then, these locations have already been captured by big capital, leaving to our communities the burden of to having to carry the pernicious parts of the project, a situation we already suffer in the communities where the Chepe Train now circulates where in this case, the proposed development is still pending. We do not want the same for ourselves and our children.
We are not against progress, we are against the benefiting of the few to the detriment of the many, we no longer accept shiny trinkets in exchange for our lands.
Let it be known from today that we totally reject the Maya Train megaproject.
We will not allow the violation of our territories and our rights.
We will take whatever actions are necessary for our rights to be fulfilled.
We reiterate the following considerations:
NO to the announced National Consultation on the Mayan Train Megaproject.
NO to a Consultation that is not planned and organized by the original peoples of the peninsula.
NO to megaprojects that only destroy and rob us of our territories.
Since the last administration we have been expectant about the Maya Train megaproject, we have followed the project's trajectory promptly and ever since the project was first proposed we have been attentive to its development. We declare that from that initial moment we have disapproved of the project and do not favor its continuation as it violates our indigenous rights to which we are subjects that are enshrined in our Political Constitution.
We had hoped with the change of administration that we, the indigenous communities, would become visible to the government of the National Federation and the means by which the Maya Train megaproject was being developed would be reconsidered but to our dismay we are stunned to realized that in this new administration, history will not change and the justice that may have been expected will not be the case for the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico.
With respect to the so-called consultation we reject from this moment any derived result that may be either for or against, as it is not permissible for anyone, for any person outside of the Yucatan Peninsula, to decide what can be done or not done in our territories as we in turn would never try to decide what will be shall be done with the property, rights and possessions of other regions.
A true consultation for our Indigenous Peoples must comply with the following guiding principles: FREE, PRIOR, and INFORMED CONSENT in GOOD FAITH and in CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE MANNER as provided by law. None of these criteria have been met by the Maya Train megaproject, and today in fact the project has already been initiated and for proof of this we already have, among other things, budgets, bids, plans, and even official announcement of the construction start date. Yet with our indigenous communities there has been absolutely no agreement regarding anything with anybody. The only information we have is what the newscasts have transmitted and the leaks that have come to us; officially there is has been no public authority that has met to talk with us despite the fact that the physical project intends to to be constructed on our territories. And to speak of good faith, this does simply does not exist, everything has been carried on behind our backs and were the project to be culturally appropriate in the first place we would require that any decision to be made in the presence of our representatives and in our territories.
The Maya Train megaproject like many others of this nature we are sure will not bring us either benefits or regional development. It is not being planned for us common people, it is a tourist project that will only benefit the wealthy and the market of foreigners. We, the owners of the land, will only see a passing train, since the stations are not located in most of our towns and our communities are only being considered as points of interest for the tourists. Even then, these locations have already been captured by big capital, leaving to our communities the burden of to having to carry the pernicious parts of the project, a situation we already suffer in the communities where the Chepe Train now circulates where in this case, the proposed development is still pending. We do not want the same for ourselves and our children.
We are not against progress, we are against the benefiting of the few to the detriment of the many, we no longer accept shiny trinkets in exchange for our lands.
Let it be known from today that we totally reject the Maya Train megaproject.
We will not allow the violation of our territories and our rights.
We will take whatever actions are necessary for our rights to be fulfilled.
We reiterate the following considerations:
1) That in this and other such projects in which our territorial rights are affected, the Indigenous Peoples are must be summoned as subjects of collective indigenous rights in order to to establish their respective positions.
2) The consultation process IS NOT the ultimate goal, but only a mechanism to collect and gather information so to be sufficiently informed and on that basis to make informed decisions. The consultation is not a simple survey that serves to supplant a legitimate decision making process to accept or reject the mega project. The most important issue is our Consent or Denial of Consent in the framework of the exercise of our right to Self Determination as Indigenous Peoples, equal to all other peoples.
3) The total and absolute respect of the guiding principles governing the FREE, PRIOR and INFORMED CONSENT in GOOD FAITH and CULTURALLY ADEQUATE, as provided by law, must be fulfilled, therefore calling for the total and absolute Prohibition of any type of Auction, authorization, permission to change the use of the land or license for the establishment of the service project, without having obtained the Consent of our Indigenous Peoples, before and after December 1, 2018.
4) We reject and repudiate any attempt or simulation of consultation with our Indigenous Peoples, being manufactured to merely check off on the requirement for obtaining our consent for the intended installation of the Mayan Train Megaproject.
5) We demand respect for our forests and jungles, since the information derived from the Environmental Impact Statement and the Environmental Impact Assessment must be done by an organization independent of the company, independent of the government, with an Observation Mission in tandem, and with guarantors of legitimacy, such as the Office of the High Commissioner of the UN, the CNDH or CIDH and with a projection of a minimum of 40 years.
6) We reject any type of diagnostic of forestry or fauna conducted without the participation of the indigenous communities with the intention of justifying the affectations and destruction of the jungle in order to develop "The Mayan Train Megaproject" that has nothing to do with the Maya themselves, nor will benefit the Mayan population. We do not want to be a Cancun or Rivera Maya, where hotel chains, restaurants and tourist transportation companies are the only beneficiaries.
7) We also reject the proposal or the intention to build or establish cities in the municipality of Calakmul, as this would provoke, transform, decompose our indigenous communities and impact the entire state of Campeche and the Peninsula.
8) We call for the establishment of working groups by state within a regional working group framework including the three states of the Yucatan Peninsula with the objective of guaranteeing the fulfillment of our territorial rights as Indigenous Peoples.
9) We call for the economic and logistical facilitation by the state for the realization of a "Regional Maya Plan of Living With Wellness", emanating from community, state and regional working groups, as a proposal of the Mayan Indigenous Peoples themselves, in order to bring into discussion the development plans that are intended to be implemented in our territories.
NO to the announced National Consultation on the Mayan Train Megaproject.
NO to a Consultation that is not planned and organized by the original peoples of the peninsula.
NO to megaprojects that only destroy and rob us of our territories.
For the Defense of our Territory
Coordinación “Unir Fuerzas para la Defensa del
Territorio” (Consejo Regional Indígena y Popular de Xpujil S.C.-Romel
Rubén González Díaz) Prodiversa A.C., Red de Productores de Servicios
Ambientales Ya’ax Sot’ Ot’ Yook’ol Kaab AC,-Humberto Vazquez León-,
Colectivo de Comunidades Mayas de los Chenes, Muuch Kambal A.C. Consejo
Indígena de Atasta-Francisca Heredia Córdoba, Cladem- Karen Montiel Cime
-Yucatán, Movimiento de Resistencia Civil-Sara López González-Candelraria,
Campeche, Sociedad Cooperativa turística repobladores de Chiquila –David
Valerio Espinoza-. Ejido de Conhuas, Calakmul-Israel Oliveros López).
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US-Mexico-Canada Agreement
USMCA
US-Mexico-Canada Agreement
USMCA
USMCA and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Clarifications:
1.)
The designation of Indigenous
Peoples in the USMCA is definitive, in terms of the recognition of Indigenous
Peoples as “peoples”. In the context
of the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was not
yet place in 1994 during the original NAFTA agreement, the recognition of Indigenous Peoples in an international commercial
agreement necessarily is accompanied and contextualized by the recognition of
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as articulated and affirmed in the principles and
articles of the UN Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
2)
The principle of non-discrimination is a preemptive norm in
international law. Therefore, the
recognition of Indigenous Peoples as “peoples’ in USMCA Article 32.5 Indigenous
Peoples Rights must be taken as an affirmation and commitment to uphold, recognize,
respect, and institute guarantees of protection for the collective rights of Indigenous
Peoples, equal to all other peoples, without illegal or arbitrary discrimination, including effective
consequences in the form of legal remedies to address the violation of these
rights. Colonization must not be disguised as development.
