Federal Resources Misuse Scandal in El Cuyo, Yucatan

Claims have emerged of the misuse of federal resources in El Cuyo, Tizimín, Yucatán. Parkkeeper Jesús Orlando Pacheco Chay and his superior, Cristóbal Enrique Cáceres G. Cantón, director of the National Commission for Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) in Yucatán, are reportedly involved in this case. It is said that they have been using close relatives and associates as supposed "projectors" to gain financial benefits from the Conservation Program for Sustainable Development (PROCODES) 2024. This has been confirmed by local residents and official documents published on the CONANP website.

According to the official call for this federal support, 13 individuals are being used as proxies. Each of them is supposed to execute a sustainable project in El Cuyo that generates income without causing harm to the ecosystem. The federal government program's definition specifies this as "economic support to promote the sustainable use of biodiversity and natural resources through the development of sustainable productive activities, as well as ecosystem restoration actions for productive purposes."

However, evidence suggests that the listed beneficiaries have not undertaken the projects for which they received substantial funds from the CONANP program.

For instance, at the Chipetén Waterhole, owned by Orlando Pacheco Chay, his father, son, and uncle are listed as directors of the tourist stop. They collectively received around 410,000 pesos for conservation improvements to this project, but no work appears to have been done.

Another couple, Jesús Bobadilla Aguiñaga and his wife Yaneli Maldonado Chay, reportedly received 440,000 pesos according to federal dependency figures. However, the actual amount is suspected to be as high as 670,000 pesos. Margarito Ferreira Tejeda is another name on the list, having received support for two projects totaling 380,000 pesos, but no work seems to have been done with these funds.

Other examples include Yovani del Rosario Fernández Chay, who received 340,000 pesos, and Henri Polanco Corea, the current director of Fisheries Development and Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone, who allegedly obtained 150,000 pesos. However, no tangible results from either of these projects have been seen. It's been reported that the strategy of Jesús Orlando Pacheco Chay and Cristóbal Enrique Cáceres G. Cantón involves leveraging federal resources from the mentioned program, taking 50,000 pesos each, and giving the remainder to the person listed as the "beneficiary" in the CONANP records.