Peasants from Oaxaca formally ask AMLO to be partners of the Interoceanic Corridor Project

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Through a letter in the hands of EL UNIVERSAL, signed by at least 70 community members addressed to AMLO, the residents of Ixtepec recalled that last July he said that he would like the peasant landowners to be considered as partners of the industrial parks

Ciudad Ixtepec.- Peasants, citizens, and professionals of Ciudad Ixtepec, formally requested the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, that the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) consider as partners of the industrial park that was approved to develop in this Zapotec community the comuneros who own the land and are not forced to sell it.

Through a letter held by EL UNIVERSAL, signed by at least 70 community members addressed to the President and received by Rafael Marín Mollinedo, head of CIIT, the residents of Ixtepec recalled the position expressed by López Obrador during a visit he made last July to the port from Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, where he said that he would like the peasants who own the land to be considered as partners in these industrial parks so that when they sell their land they will not end up being dispossessed. 

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On July 25, 2020, in a visit to the new docking pier of the Integral Port Administration of Salina Cruz (Apisal), referring to the construction of 10 industrial parks as part of the Interoceanic, the President said that he would like the farmers to they were partners or that they rented their lands, instead of selling them.  

 “And if it is about ejidos, communal lands, talk to the people and not only buy them but help them to become partners, to be part of the project (…). 

“I would like more that they contribute those lands. And that the Mexican State, through some legal mechanism, was paying them an income for the benefit of their entire family for a longer time, that they did not have a bitter taste in their mouths that they had already been stripped of their lands, that the benefit was ephemeral. ”Said the President that day, as recorded in the version of his speech that can be found on the federal government website. 

Letter to AMLO signed by community members / Photo: CIIT

It was based on this promise from the President that this weekend the inhabitants of Ciudad Ixtepec made the proposal, during the consultative assembly called by CIIT and the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), where citizens approved, but with reservations, the installation of the industrial park.

The installation of this complex, which the government calls (Pole of Development for Wellbeing) is projected on an area of ​​440 hectares in the southwest sector of Ciudad Ixtepec, where as soon as possible, the authorities must introduce basic services such as water, electricity, drainage, and roads. 

According to the letter sent to the President through Marín Mollinedo, the citizens of Ixtepec said no to the sale of land and expressed yes through the partnership or leasing procedure, in addition, they proposed the association between the federal government and the community members, in order to form an organization to manage the industrial park, which would be one of the 10 to be installed in the Interoceanic Corridor and the second approved so far. 

On May 11, EL UNIVERSAL published that these concerns of the landowners to associate instead of selling them, had already been expressed to federal officials, including Marín Mollinedo; However, as a response, they had been informed that the President changed his mind and asked them to sell their lands; they met separately from residents of Santa María Mixtequilla and Ciudad Ixtepec. 

Hearings 

In addition to the destination of their lands, the residents of Ixtepec indicated that there are pending environmental issues that must be resolved before the industrial park advances. 

“We are concerned and we request that you clearly inform us how water and energy will be obtained, without affecting the necessary requirements for our population, as well as the management and final disposal of the waste that this Development Pole generates,” they said. 

The Ixtepecans also proposed the creation of trusts for specific purposes of applying the profits to sustainable projects and for the common good of the community.

Finally, after various interventions by citizens who expressed their doubts about the impact of the industrial park on the lives of future generations, the assembly authorized the installation of the development pole in Ciudad Ixtepec. 

“Let it be clear, we did not give the CITT a blank check,” explains community member Raúl Santiago, who details that the assembly approved the creation of a special commission for the Well-being of Ciudad Ixtepec.

Said commission will be integrated with the communal authorities headed by Jerónimo Santiago Cueto and citizens of Ciudad Ixtepec, who will monitor compliance with the protocols for the installation of the park and supervise that the industries to settle present their environmental impact manifestations and above all, that they monitor that CIIT comply with the demands presented by Ciudad Ixtepec, in different consultations.

So far, the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec has obtained approval for three of the five industrial parks that it plans to develop in Oaxaca.

Source: oaxaca.eluniversal.com.mx

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