Armed with sticks and machetes, ejido members from the Sierra Papacal community blocked the Maya Train construction site for several hours, protesting alleged disagreements related to compensation for the expropriation of their land for the project. The sit-in began shortly after 7:30 a.m. and ended around 2:00 p.m.
The events took place at kilometer 1 of the highway to Chuburná.
According to those affected and their legal advisor, Erick Carrillo Medina, irregularities have occurred. One of these is the accusation that the Federal Government and the Army occupied 223 hectares of ejido land without due process for the expansion of the Maya Train freight line to the deep-water port of Progreso.
At the instruction of the state governor, Huacho Díaz Mena, the Secretary General of the Government, Omar Pérez Avilés, and the Undersecretary of Government and Political Development, Pablo Castro Alcocer, personally went to the site to speak with the protesters, listen to their concerns, and establish a permanent channel of communication to address their demands in an institutional and respectful manner.
As a pressure tactic, the ejido members shut down 10 drinking water wells that supply the Progreso communities of Chuburná and Chelem, as well as the Yucalpetén industrial zone.
Following the meeting with state authorities, the protesters agreed to reopen the drinking water pumping and agreed to continue the dialogue in the coming days.
The state administration reiterated, through a press release, its willingness to establish a dialogue with the ejido members, particularly regarding the land expropriation resulting from the Presidential Decree of December 7, 1992, which expropriated 223 hectares of communal land belonging to the Sierra Papacal ejido.
The State Government emphasizes that understanding and negotiation are the path to finding solutions, always prioritizing legality, transparency, and the well-being of the communities.
Source: jhonnyoliverquintal
