The Movement in Defense of Life and Territory (Modevite), made up of Tseltals, Tsotsiles and Choles from 13 municipalities in the Highlands and Selva regions of Chiapas, expressed its opposition to the construction of the San Cristóbal de las Casas-Palenque highway, promoted by Governor Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar, and denounced that its foundation is being laid under warning.
“Since the reactivation of the construction of the highway was announced in April 2024, it was under warning, sending a message to those who opposed it; the project has been sold as progress for the people, however, for us who travel daily from our cornfield to our community it does not represent a benefit,” the environmental organization said in a document addressed to the federal and state governments.
Modevite’s statement comes one day after the state government began the consultation process with indigenous communities for the project.
The meetings will be held in the municipalities of Palenque Salto de Agua, Chilón and Ocosingo, where technical, economic, social, cultural and environmental information about the project will be offered.
The construction of this highway has been suspended in the past three six-year terms, due to the opposition of various communities of indigenous peoples that would be affected, but the current governor, Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar, has it contemplated as one of his priority works.
Unlike previous governments, the Ramírez Aguilar government has proposed that the income from the toll, gas stations and other negotiations on the side of the road be for the indigenous peoples through which the road will pass.
Modevite points out: “we are not against progress, we are against the violation of our rights, against imposition and authoritarianism, benefiting a few to the detriment of the land and territory that have been a source of life for our peoples.”
The environmental group asks: Who benefits most from the construction of the San Cristóbal-Palenque highway? They claim that the path of imposition and false consultations destroy the lives of our communities.
As indigenous peoples, they demand that the current government respect the rights of indigenous peoples; “we have the right to demonstrate, the right to freely decide our future, as well as to a free, prior and informed consultation stipulated in article 2, 6 and 7 of the Mexican Constitution and in international treaties.”
In the document, they state that they do not want “more destruction of Mother Earth and our culture. Today we once again demonstrate against a project that seeks to deprive us of our territories rich in water, trees and vast natural resources, a project that hides the same old thing: colonialism, racism and favoring the interests of large transnationals, extractive companies, drug trafficking and the government.”
For the above, Modevite demands “respect for the rights of indigenous peoples; We have the right to demonstrate, to freely decide our future, as well as to a free, prior and informed consultation stipulated in article 2, 6 and 7 of the Mexican Constitution and in international treaties.”
On February 7, the state governor made a tour of the Francisco I. Madero ejido, municipality of Salto de Agua, bordering Palenque, where the highway will pass, which he assures will boost social, commercial, economic and tourist activity and will directly benefit the indigenous peoples of the region.
“The government that we lead has a clear commitment to the people of Chiapas: We want to improve connectivity and, at the same time, help those who need it most, especially the sectors in conditions of greatest vulnerability,” he declared.
In response, Modevite said that “deciding the future of indigenous communities and peoples, stating that they will be the main beneficiaries of a project that they do not know about, of which there is no record of a preliminary dialogue, where the environmental, socioeconomic and cultural impacts are unknown, means continuing to reproduce the systemic discrimination that the Mexican State has promoted for years.”
Therefore, it demanded that their right to free, prior, informed consultation for indigenous peoples be respected; that the dispossession be stopped, because they warn that they will not allow their land and resources to be taken from them.
The Movement in Defense of Life and Territory also demands justice and transparency in the process with the delivery of the document on the environmental and cultural impact of the construction of the highway; information on the economic budget and the origin of its financing; information on the results of the consultation of each community, ejido and municipality where they intend to build the highway.
The Modevite group has been fighting and resisting for 12 years in municipalities in the northern region, the jungle and the highlands of Chiapas.
Source: proceso
