Landowners Fight Back Against Land Grabs in Yucatan

Landowners in Ucú, Yucatan, are raising their voices against what they claim is a series of abuses, including land dispossession and rights violations. These alleged actions, they say, have been carried out by a group of businessmen and are negatively impacting the assets of 320 landowners. They are also protesting against the establishment of a commercial company by a businessman, which they believe is bypassing agreements designed to protect the land from environmental agencies.

According to the landowners, this company involves strawmen for real estate businessmen in collusion with the current land commissioner, Felipe Quintal. They claim the issue began in 2021 when a proposed division of lands for each of the 355 landowners was put forward by Commissioner Miguel Ángel Magaña Tun and a businessman.

Later that year, another businessman carried out the usufruct of 625 hectares, which corresponded to the 355 landowners, equating to almost two hectares per person. Following a lawsuit filed by landowner Felipe Quintal Dzul, alleging poor land management, the businessman ceased payments to the landowners and withdrew from the National Agrarian Registry assembly. He stated that he would not risk his money until the lawsuit was resolved.

In 2022, the businessman resumed use of the land, paying each landowner 220,000 pesos and purchasing a square meter at 12 pesos. However, Quintal filed another lawsuit against this assembly, and payments were once again halted.

By 2023, 15 landowners who had chosen not to sell their lands protested to agrarian authorities, claiming that the lands were not distributed according to the agreed-upon terms. In March, the commissioner was replaced by Felipe Quintal Dzul, who the landowners allege is now working with the businessman he had been suing for over nine years.

The landowners claim this collusion guarantees the Commercial Company 65% of Ucú's ejidal lands for the businessmen, and 35% for the ejido. They are calling on authorities to investigate the alleged poor land management and are accusing this business scheme of exploiting citizens' lack of knowledge about agrarian and territorial laws.

They are also demanding respect for landowners who choose not to sell their lands and are calling for the creation of an assembly to discuss land division. They want to separate the processes of landowners who have sold their lands from those who have chosen not to. They argue this issue is directly linked to the defense of the territory of the Maya communities, whose natural resources have been impacted by numerous mega-projects and real estate developments around the Yucatan capital.