Political brazenness knows no bounds. Despite serving a three-year prison sentence for cattle rustling and electoral crimes, former mayor Warnel May Escobar continues to operate from the shadows, now selling ejido land parcels he allegedly seized illegally during his administration.
According to disgruntled ejido members, Warnel May—taking advantage of his power as mayor—appropriated several hectares of communal land in collusion with former commissioners Jorge Lugo and José William May Gorocica, blatantly violating the ejido’s internal regulations.
According to these regulations, each ejido member is entitled to a maximum of 20 mecates (approximately 20 hectares), but the former mayor allegedly far exceeded this limit, appropriating land that he is now attempting to resell to private individuals.
The ejido members denounce these actions as violations of collective rights and agrarian laws, since the lands in question belong to the ejido’s common use and cannot be sold without the assembly’s authorization.
“Warnel feels untouchable, even though he’s in jail. His accomplices continue operating as if nothing is wrong, selling what doesn’t belong to them,” said the affected residents, who fear reprisals for reporting the events.
The community demands the immediate intervention of the National Institute for Sustainable Land Use (INSUS) and the National Agrarian Registry (RAN) to stop the land trafficking and punish those responsible.
Meanwhile, the former mayor and his group of allies continue to profit from the town’s assets, in a new chapter of corruption that exposes how ejido power in Izamal has been taken over as a family business.
Source: solyucatan
