Legal Battle Rages as Maya Train Construction Defies Halt

Despite a definitive suspension, construction on Section 7 of the Maya Train project continues. This has led Mayan communities in Campeche, located in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, to persist in their legal fight and level accusations of contempt against the government.

The first legal protection, known as an amparo, was filed in 2020 to halt the construction of Section 7 of the Maya Train. The grounds for this legal action were that the local communities had not been consulted in accordance with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 169.

The Xpujil Indigenous and Popular Regional Council, who filed the amparo, have not given up their fight. They have been witnessing the negative impacts on their communities, including logging, deforestation, pollution, real estate speculation, and displacement.

Despite a presidential decree declaring the Maya Train project a matter of national security, the Xpujil community's lawsuit remains active. This is due to a judge ruling in their favor on March 4, 2020, resulting in the first suspension of construction. According to Romel González Díaz, a member of the Xpujil Indigenous and Popular Regional Council, their lawsuit was filed before the decree and therefore the law is not retroactive.

González Díaz also highlighted that the government had violated the rights of indigenous peoples to free, prior, and informed consultation. This was evidenced by the government failing to provide interpreters at the consultative assembly it organized.