Ejidatarios from XMaben, Quintana Roo, confront each other and denounce lack of payment for work on the Mayan Train

On December 17, 2022, representatives of the Ejido of XMaben and Annexes of the municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, signed a contract with the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) to allow them to extract stone materials from the region that would be used in the works of the Mayan Train. Today, one year and eight months later, they accuse a breach of contract and demand payment of 100 million pesos.

The ejidatarios, belonging to the peninsular Mayan indigenous population, maintain that the signed contract established the payment of 30 million pesos at a rate of 15 pesos for each cubic meter extracted, with a total of 2 million cubic meters that would be exploited.

The payments would be made as follows: 5 million 280 thousand pesos after the first month of the start of the extraction work; The same amount would be repeated until the sixth month, when the contract ended and the payment of 3 million 600 thousand pesos would have to be deposited.

In an interview with Infobae Mexico, the ejidatarios indicated that they only received two payments for 2 million 710 thousand pesos each:

“They prevented us from making that deposit because of the electronic signature; we got it and went to the SAT in Cancun, they put up a lot of obstacles and we had to go to Campeche to get that electronic signature. We had to go to another state. With the electronic signature we were able to withdraw the money from Banjército, which is 2 million 710 thousand pesos, but there, in that bank, they put up a lot of obstacles until it was possible and from the moment we withdrew the money, the bank told us ‘we are going to cancel the account’ and the account was cancelled.”
Ejidal conflict tarnishes the Mayan Train

On July 15, Demetrio Ek Chac (president of the Ejidal Commission), Roberto Carlos Kau Can (secretary), Julia Ek Varela (treasurer), Juan Cituk Varela (president of the Vigilance Council), Santiago Pat Cuxim (first secretary) and Lorenzo Asterio Che Tuz (second secretary) presented a complaint and request for intervention to the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) to investigate the acts of the Sedena, the Attorney General’s Office (FGJ) of Quintana Roo, the National Forestry Commission, the 44th Agrarian Court, Banjercito, Banco del Bienestar, Fonatur and the Agrarian Attorney’s Office.

“The Mexican state, using different institutions, acts in a coordinated and systematic manner to prevent the XMaben and Annexes ejido from being paid the economic obligations derived from a limestone exploitation contract dated December 2022, signed between Sedena and the ejido, this for more than 90 million pesos,” reads the CNDH acknowledgment of receipt.

The representatives of the XMaben ejido highlighted to this media that although the works set out in the contract were for six months, to date the region continues to be exploited to extract limestone. To achieve this, “they falsified the contract that initially indicated exploitation for one year, they summoned us to sign it and as we refused to sign without first reading and analyzing it, they argued that it had already been signed by Mr. Margarito Cituk May for two years.”

In the Minutes of the Ejidal Assembly held on March 19, 2023, the residents requested accountability from Margarito Cituk for the lack of payment, who, as he could not offer it, was removed from his position and the election of the now complainants was carried out, which was recorded in the National Agrarian Registry under procedure 232300003770 on July 4, 2023.

In response, Margarito Cituk and the ejidal representatives filed a lawsuit before the Agrarian Unitary Court of District 44, who ruled in their favor and declared the assembly of March 19, 2023 null:

“Given that the Agrarian Attorney’s Office has the legitimacy to issue a call, installation and verification of quorum, including advice on the development of the assemblies, in addition to the fact that the same legal act has irregularities in its celebration and preparation.”

Infobae Mexico contacted Margarito Cituk and this was his response: “The documents are what speak and not the lies of a few who are against the Maya Train project.” He did not respond to the money and payments.

Retaliation for reporting

Deprivation of liberty, home invasion, theft and disappearance of people, was the response to the demands of the XMaben ejidatarios; in their own words, they are “fabricating crimes” and they are “persecuted by the authorities” who should watch over their human rights and they list the following abuses.

They exploit a greater quantity of cubic meters than authorized by the assembly on December 17, 2022
They cede to third parties the exploitation of the material banks, without any right to do so
They destroy the jungle using explosives that endanger the lives of the ejidatarios and their free movement
They included Margarito Cituk, their non-state actor, on the payroll of Sedena to operate in their favor

Since his dismissal as President of the Ejidal Commission, Margarito Cituk May has publicly made various money deliveries for millions of pesos in cash.

The ejidatarios point to Erick Gerardo Aguilar García, coordinator of Indigenous Affairs of the Vice Prosecutor’s Office of the Central Zone of Quintana Roo, who summoned them to appear for accusations against them for alleged disappearance of individuals “without there being any act of investigation, testimonies or expert reports in the file, which shows his inclined intention to deprive us of our freedom.”

One day before his appointment at the Vice Prosecutor’s Office, Major Apolo Catillo Zetina sent an “intimidating message” via WhatsApp to the president of the Ejidal Commissariat Demetrio Ek Chac to meet in private.

“We asked the lawyer who attended to us why they accused us if there is no evidence, if there are no videos, there are no images: ‘it is because we were wrong,’ she answered.”
The Vice Prosecutor’s Office gave them 19 notifications to appear to appear for “disappearance of individuals,” for which the ejidatarios emphasize that “it is impossible that it is a mistake. They are putting their hand in and gave the Vice-Prosecutor’s Office the green light so that we are charged and sent to jail.”

RIGHT OF REPLY

The position of Margarito Cituk May

By this means, the undersigned Margarito Cituk May, Ejidatario and resident of the agrarian nucleus called X-Maben and Annexes, municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, in the State of Quintana Roo, on his own behalf and in accordance with my Right of Reply, I allow myself to state the following:

As a background in the General Assembly of Ejidatarios dated March 6, 2022, by a majority vote of more than 500 ejidatarios that make up the ejidal registry, we were elected as President, Secretary and Treasurer, respectively, of the Commissariat, of the agrarian nucleus called X-Maben and Annexes, municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, in the State of Quintana Roo; We who had the opportunity to support the “Tren Maya” Development Project, related to the approval and authorization of the agreed expropriation of ejido lands by the general assembly of ejidatarios, as well as the authorization of the contracts between the ejido and the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) for the exploitation of a bank of materials (sascab) for the construction works of the Tren Maya, all of which the ejidatarios are aware of the benefits that this presidential project will bring to the ejido.

However, a small group of ejidatarios (approximately 40 ejidatarios) were dissatisfied with these approvals and authorizations in favor of the “Tren Maya” Development Project. In January 2023, headed by Demetrio Ek Chac, Roberto Carlos Kau Can and Juan Cituk Varela, looking after their personal interests and not those of the ejido, through a letter addressed to the Representative of the Agrarian Attorney General’s Office in the State of Quintana Roo, they requested that a call be issued to hold an assembly to remove the members of the Ejidal Commissariat and the Surveillance Council, which at that time were served as members of the Ejidal Commissariat by CCs. Margarito Cituk May, Silvana Pat Chuc and Eligio Cante Ek, and as Surveillance Council by CCs. Luis Cauich Pech, Lorenzo Xool May and Gilberto Uex Santamaria.

In response to the request made, the Agrarian Attorney’s Office issued the first requested call to hold an assembly on February 19, 2023, but it could not be held, due to the disturbances that arose in the ejido house, the assembly was not installed and the Attorney’s Office staff who attended had to withdraw, however, due to the insistence of this group of ejidatarios, the Agrarian Attorney’s Office and in the face of a possible social conflict in the ejido, again issued the first call to hold the removal assembly on March 19, 2023, however, at the start, a series of aggressive actions were again presented that did not allow the representative of the Agrarian Attorney’s Office to carry out the roll call of attendance, or the verification of the quorum, therefore,In order to preserve his physical integrity and safety, he left the place, therefore the installation of said assembly was not legally carried out and consequently said assembly was never held.

However, the group of ejidatarios who requested the removal, collected signatures from ejidatarios who attended the place where the assembly was to be held, as well as from others who arrived later once the representative of the Agrarian Attorney’s Office left the place, the above with the purpose of collecting signatures from people who did not attend, later this group of people would be in charge of making an apocryphal assembly record in which we were illegally and improperly removed as members of the Ejidal Commissariat and Surveillance Council, without the Agrarian Attorney’s Office, which when issuing the call, was the institution in charge of verifying the quorum, and in its case installing the assembly in a legal and legitimate manner, so said assembly record has a series of irregularities in its celebration and preparation.

However, said assembly minutes were improperly registered with the National Agrarian Registry Delegation in the State of Quintana Roo, registering on July 4, 2023, in which CCs Demetrio Ek Chac, Roberto Carlos Kau Can and Julia Ek Varela were elected as President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Ejidal Commissariat, respectively, and Juan Cituk Varela, Santiago Pat Cuxim and Lorenzo Asterio Che Tuz, as President, First and Second Secretary of the Surveillance Council, respectively, of the X-Maben ejido and Annexes.

Those who were aware of the illegality of the legal act of removal went to different offices to deliver documents in which they attached the minutes of the assembly improperly registered with the National Agrarian Registry Delegation in the State of Quintana Roo, where they stated that they were the new Representation and surveillance bodies of the X-Maben ejido and Annexes. We learned about this situation due to the communication we had with the institutions of the three levels of Government.

As a result of this situation and to defend the will of the assembly that granted us at the time the representation of our agrarian nucleus, the nullity of the minutes of the general assembly of ejidatarios regarding the removal of the representation and surveillance bodies, dated March 19, 2023, and improperly registered with the Delegation of the National Agrarian Registry in the State of Quintana Roo, was demanded, registering on July 4, 2023, before the Agrarian Unitary Court No. 44, since said assembly was not held, and was assigned file number 278/2023.

On December 12, 2023, the Agrarian Unitary Court No. 44 issued a Judgment on Agrarian Trial 278/2023 which resolves that the CC. Margarito Cituk May, Silvana Pat Chuc, Eligio Cante Ek, Luis Cauch Pech Lorenzo Xool May and Gilberto Uex Santamaría prove our claims; likewise, THE NULLITY OF THE ASSEMBLY MINUTES DATED MARCH 19, 2023 WAS DECLARED, SINCE IT WAS AFFECTED BY ABSOLUTE NULLITY, so once the Resolution UNTIL IT CAUSED STATE, it had to have been sent to the National Agrarian Registry for the corresponding effects and annotations to deregister the representatives elected in the null minutes and register the minutes of the ejidatarios assembly dated March 6, 2022 in which we were elected as Ejidal Commissioner and Surveillance Council respectively.

Source: infobae