Mayan Train: Legal fight will reach international courts

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Activists who demand compliance with the legal requirements for the execution of the Mayan Train announced that they will go to international bodies if necessary to demand respect for the right to a healthy environment.

After the announcement of a provisional suspension of the works on section 5 south of the Mayan Train, the protesters and environmentalists who oppose the irregular execution of the project announced that they will not remain only in national instances. 

“At the same time we are with other legal actions at the international level. At the national level we are trying to exhaust all the instances, that if they do not respond to us, we would be reaching the Inter-American Court (of Human Rights). We are working in parallel with local organizations, lawyers national environmental law and international law,” said Gemma Santana, director of Vote for Climate and spokesperson for the Save Me from the Train campaign.

In an interview with Grupo Formula, he explained that the works of the Mayan Train violate the right to a healthy environment, which is why the provisional suspension announced last Monday was granted, but also because the second jungle is being put at risk. largest in Latin America.

“It also gives us 25 percent of the oxygen we breathe,” he said. He also stressed that this Friday they will hold mobilizations in various parts of the country to protest against the work.

In this sense, he reiterated that the opposition they show to the construction of the Mayan Train is not against the project itself, but against its implementation with deficiencies in legal terms and non-compliance with the law.

“If the studies are presented and dialogue tables are opened and consultations are made in accordance with the law, and they show us the executive project, and it complies with everything established, even considered by UN Habitat, I do not see what the problem could be. What we are asking for is compliance with the law and for the studies to be delivered to see if it is feasible or not. Unfortunately, the studies will show that it is not feasible, there are an immense number of cenotes and underground, “he warned.

For example, he recalled that the entire project lacks an executive project and an Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) in four of the seven sections; while the first three have a regional MIA but that does not contemplate the impact on the five entities through which it will pass, but only those corresponding to that phase. As for section 4, it presented the MIA once the works had already begun.

“They do not comply with the fauna crossings, the legality of the project under the justification of the decree of the megaprojects, an unconstitutional decree, the biological projects and the local consultations by show of hands, there is no such information and it should be public,” he lamented.

They highlight risks to the environment by the Mayan Train

In a letter released this Tuesday, more than 300 academics, researchers, activists and civil society organizations called on President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) that the project threatens not only the environment in the area, already affected by tourism and housing activities in the area.

“This territory, inhabited by the Mayan people since ancient times, has generated lifestyles, customs, worldviews and community production and subsistence modes that respect the ecological conditions and take advantage of the potential of their territories; these do not coincide with the ideals of progress, profitability and urbanization promoted by the Mayan Train project,” the document states.

In addition to this, it is expected that in the short term, the cenotes and underground rivers, where one of the largest water reserves in Mexico is estimated to be, will be irremediably contaminated by the infiltration of rainwater that drags soil particles derived from of the work and the uprooting of trees due to the construction of the Mayan Train.

“When it starts to rain, as the entire stretch is full of holes, where rivers and cenotes are already deforested, when it starts to rain, this water will not be able to filter and this will go away. directly with the land and everything that implies contaminating rivers and cenotes. Citizens and tourism depend on it,” warned Santana.

However, despite the provisional suspension granted this week, the lack of environmental studies and the possible damage that the project may cause in the northern area of ​​Quintana Roo, the works of the Mayan Train continued this Tuesday, according to activists.

Celebrities and experts accept AMLO’s invitation to talk about the Mayan Train

The famous and the organizations asked AMLO that the conversation be carried out in section five so that experts and local communities also intervene.

Environmentalists, academics, experts in the area, biologists and artists accepted the invitation of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to clarify doubts about the environmental impact that the construction of the Mayan Train would imply in section five.

Through a letter shared on social networks by organizations such as Sélvame del Tren and La Selva Salva, they agreed to carry out the conversation in section five of the construction. They assured that it will be a respectful talk and that they are waiting for a date to be able to carry it out.

“As we have pointed out, we have no other interest than the defense of the jungle, the conservation of the Mayan aquifer, its rivers and caves, as well as the best development of the region. We are sure that we agree with you in these purposes”, establishes the letter.

In the morning conference this Wednesday, López Obrador pointed out that it would be a good idea to talk to the celebrities who are against the construction of the Mayan Train and who participated in the video of Sélvame del Tren (Eugenio Derbez, Natalia Lafourcade, Rubén Albarrán, Bárbara Mori, among others).

“Yes, I am going to invite them, to see if we can talk. You are giving me a good idea, let’s see what your doubts are and I will clarify them for you . Let’s see if they accept and let’s talk, because it’s ignorance, it’s not bad faith . I do not think it is that they have been paid, I think they believed the destruction, ”said the president this Wednesday.

Conversation about section 5 Mayan Train would later be provisionally suspended

Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s invitation to establish a dialogue about the environmental impact of section five of the Mayan Train comes two days after the first court of the District of Yucatán granted the provisional suspension of the construction of the section with the Playa del Carmen line to Tulum, Quintana Roo.

This suspension was celebrated by Sélvame del Tren, as well as some celebrities who were part of the video in which the organization warned about the environmental impact of the construction.

On Tuesday, López Obrador pointed out that he does not know what the judge’s resolution is about; however, he accused businessmen and international organizations of financing a “political” campaign against the Mayan Train.

“ There is no official notification yet. We don’t know what it is. Only what is already in the public domain, there is for political purposes, not environmentalists, a campaign against the Mayan Train financed by international organizations and by Mexican businessmen, “said the Executive.

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