Thursday, January 30, 2020

MEXICO: Maya Council obtains Order of Protection against AMLO Mayan Train

Maya Council of Calakmul obtains provisional suspension of the Mayan Train Project in Mexico after denouncing simulation of the federal consultation


January 29, 2020

Mexico City | Desinformémonos - The Mayan indigenous communities of Xpujil and Calakmu in the state of Campeche, obtained on January 14 the provisional suspension of the execution of the Mayan Train project in response to the request for an Order of Protection that they filed “against the simulated consultation process that was carried out in assemblies of supposedly informative and consultation character with representatives of indigenous communities”, informed the Regional Indigenous and Popular Council of Xpujil (CRIPX). 

The members of the Council and the Mayan communities explained that the demand for Order of Protection was filed on January 6 to demand moratorium of “the simulated and fraudulent indigenous consultation ordered by the Federal Executive and executed to the detriment of the Indigenous Peoples of Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Chiapas ”, as well as the“ illegal consultation and approval of the project called Mayan Train, whose action was carried out in flagrant violation of our human right to guarantee a Prior, Free, Informed, good faith and culturally appropriate consultation”. 

They added that the Order of Protection the First District Court in the state of Campeche agreed to grant the provisional suspension “so that things remain unchanged in the state they are in presently, that is, so that the responsible authorities regardless of the outcome of the query made in relation to the so-called Mayan Train, refrain from decreeing the approval of said project, or, having said decree approved, refrain from performing acts tending to the execution of said project ” until the issue of definitive suspension is resolved. 

The Mayan indigenous communities of Xpujil and Calakmul, in Campeche obtained on January 14, 2020 the provisional suspension of the execution of the Mayan Train in response to the request for an Order of Protection that they filed “against the simulated consultation process that was carried out in assemblies of supposedly informative and consultative character with representatives of indigenous communities”, informed the Regional Indigenous and Popular Council of Xpujil (CRIPX). 

On December 14 and 15, 2019, the federal government carried out a “consultation process” in the five states through which the Mayan Train will cross to determine if the population was in agreement, however, several indigenous communities and national and international organizations denounced that the process did not meet the standards of Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and violated the right of Indigenous Peoples to Self-Determination and to be consulted in a Free, Prior, Informed, culturally appropriate manner and good manner faith. 

Here is the full statement: 


Indigenous communities belonging to the Peninsular and Ch´ol Maya people, residing in Xpujil, Calakmul, Campeche, members of the Indigenous and Popular Regional Council of Xpujil (CRIPX), obtained on January 14, 2020 from the Judicial Branch of the Federation the provisional suspension of the execution of the Mayan Train project, in response to a request for Order of Protection that we filed against the simulated consultation process that was carried out in assemblies supposedly of informative and consultative character with representatives of indigenous communities, in order to obtain the approval of the community for the Mayan Train project in our territories. 

The request for an Order of Protection filed on January 6, 2020, claims “the simulated and fraudulent indigenous consultation ordered by the Federal Executive and executed to the detriment of the Indigenous Peoples of Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Chiapas”, as well as the “ Illegal consultation and approval of the project called Mayan Train, whose action was carried out in flagrant violation of our human right to guarantee a Prior, Free, Informed, good faith and culturally appropriate consultation”. 

In the legal application for the Order of Protection, the President of the Republic of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), is designated as the principal responsible authority, as well as the Director of the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (Fonatur), Rogelio Jiménez Pons, the Secretary of the Interior, Olga Sánchez Cordero, and to the General Director of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), Adelfo Regino Montes. 

In the present demand for Order of Protection, we denounce that the consultation process was carried out without complying with the international standards established by Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, of the International Labor Organization (ILO), to which the Mexican State is a party, as well as in contravention of relevant determinations of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).

The government consultation did not fulfill the character of being neither informative nor prior, as we did not receive detailed information in advance, nor was our right to participation respected since the structure of the forums during the alleged information phase (dated November 30, 2019) was designed and implemented unilaterally, so that its forms and modularities were not consistent with our forms of community deliberation and agreement. Likewise, before the simulated consultation, the approval of the project had already been announced by government officials, including President AMLO, through various public channels. 

The simulated consultation was also not carried out in good faith and was not culturally appropriate, since electoral ballots were distributed to be deposited in polling stations by way of individual voting, without taking into account the traditional forms of organization and decision-making of the community. 

Before these elements previously presented in the request for Order of Protection, the First District Court in the state of Campeche, agreed to grant the provisional suspension so that things remain unchanged in the state they are in presently, that is, so that the responsible authorities regardless of the outcome of the query made in relation to the so-called Mayan Train, refrain from decreeing the approval of said project, or, having said decree approved, refrain from performing acts tending to the execution of said project until the issue of definitive suspension is resolved. 

The indigenous communities of the Peninsular and Ch´ol Maya people, residing in Xpujil, are heartened by this court decision and call on the rest of the Indigenous Peoples in the states of the Republic affected by the Mayan Train, to pursue until legal exhaustion the jurisdictional route to defend their right to a true consultation, to the integrity of their lands and territories, and to autonomy and self-determination. 

We will continue working on our legal defense actions, as well as at the organizational level, carrying out community assemblies in which we provide information related to the defense of the territory. Likewise, we shall continue to establish alliances with different academic sectors, researchers, social organizations and the National Assembly of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) to be held on March 27 and 28 in Xpujil.

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Mayan Train in Mexico:

Manipulated Consultation 

 




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