Members of organized communities reported threats, land encroachment, persecution, and harassment by political figures, police officers, and municipal, state, and federal government employees due to their opposition to the construction of the San Cristóbal de Las Casas–Palenque highway in Chiapas. They also highlighted the impacts observed after a year of construction work.
The residents maintain that their rights have been violated since the consultation—which they describe as “a sham”—was conducted without an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and without the participation of the Tzeltal- and Chol-speaking communities.
“They’ve told us we can’t resist—we have to comply—because otherwise the Pakales (Pakal Immediate Reaction Force) will come and say they’re going to take us to Amate (CERSS 14, State Center for Social Reintegration of Convicted Offenders). “You feel vulnerable because the government can order it at any moment and take us away,” members of organized communities in Chilón reported in an interview with Avispa Mídia, requesting that their identities remain confidential due to the threats they face.
With the support of Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and the administrators of Chiapas’s public and autonomous universities, on June 8, 2025, the state government began construction of the first section—from Palenque to Ocosingo—of the so-called “Route of the Mayan Cultures,” a highway project spanning approximately 170 kilometers that will pass through the municipalities of Palenque, Salto de Agua, Tumbalá, Ocosingo, and Chilón.
Since then, “they have been entering the plots without the owners’ consent, and the owners were not even aware of the construction; so we met and agreed to put up a sign opposing the superhighway because our rights were violated—there was no prior, informed consultation. The EIS was published after construction began, but most people don’t know how to read,” the complainants stated.
On May 29, 2026, at least 17 communities in Chilón participated in putting up the signs. Days later, direct threats and acts of intimidation against communal landholders and advocates began, allegedly perpetrated by municipal and state police officers.
In addition, municipal government officials have summoned the landowners one by one to pressure them into signing documents authorizing the highway to pass through their land or to make their participation in social programs such as “Sembrando Vida” conditional on their compliance.
Technology Used to Intimidate
A new incident has been added to the threats reported by the communities. A few days ago, residents detected an attempt to tear down the signs posted in the area. Although they do not know who was responsible, they noted that, at the same time, videos generated with artificial intelligence—in which the signs appear to be on fire—were circulating on social media.
“It’s a way to threaten our protest, but it’s peaceful, and we have the right to free speech under Article 6 of the Constitution,” they insisted.
In a statement, the documentation caravan for the San Cristóbal de Las Casas–Palenque highway project also denounced these incidents, as well as the harassment faced by communities in resistance due to drones flying overhead, even during their assemblies.
The signs were posted on May 29 in 17 communities in Chilón.
Signs of Devastation
The documentation caravan—composed of the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center, the Indigenous Rights Center, the Brigada Común Collective, the Economic and Social Development of Indigenous Mexicans (DESMI), and the Movement in Defense of Life and Territory (Modevite), denounced the failure to pay for the plots of land where construction is already underway and alleged that, in some cases, the authorities have offered ejido members 9 pesos per square meter “as a mockery.”
The organizations highlighted that engineers are trespassing on community plots to conduct soil studies and topographic surveys without the communities’ consent. “They sneak onto their plots to extract resources and take samples from the land,” their report states.
Members of the organized communities, contacted by Avispa Mídia, noted that overnight, markers suddenly appear at various points on the plots. The markers consist of posts, stones, or tree trunks painted a specific color.
Based on these markers, they have identified the route of the project’s second phase. However, they expressed concern because even the structure of a home has already been marked.
In the villages where resistance is strongest—where communities restrict access to outsiders—residents have noticed that the second phase of the survey is being conducted using drones that fly over the area at dusk.
“They leveled hills”
The documentation caravan called for listening to those who warn of the environmental devastation caused by the highway’s construction and the destruction of culture, “as has already been witnessed on the first section near Palenque.”
In this regard, members of the organized communities noted that, in meetings with residents of the Juan Manuel ejido in the municipality of Palenque, they have reported disruptions to the water supply following the highway construction work.
They also stated that the noise from the machinery has driven deer out of their habitat and onto other roads, where car accidents have occurred due to the presence of both deer and other wildlife.
“They’ve already leveled hills, destroyed trees, and there’s already a water shortage in the municipal seat; and not only that, but the machinery is causing massive pollution. They want to strip us of the lands our grandparents fought for. We know our old clunkers won’t be driving on a superhighway—that highway is designed for commercial exploitation,” the community members insisted.
On February 28, 2026, speaking from the construction site of the first section in Palenque, Governor Eduardo Ramírez stated that the project’s goal is to improve conditions in the communities through road connectivity, as well as to strengthen commerce, the transport of sick people, education, and responsible tourism. He also highlighted a “quite substantial investment” by the federal government.
Members of the organized communities asked, “If the highway is for the well-being of the people and if the government is concerned about health, why doesn’t it use that huge amount of money to build a highly specialized hospital? Why don’t they rehabilitate or improve the existing road, since they’re already connected?” they said.
Currently, when residents need specialized medical care, they must travel to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Villahermosa, or Mexico City, because the hospitals in the municipal seat lack medications and laboratory services.
No Responses
The documentation caravan noted that, for more than a decade, communities have resisted projects that threaten their territories. In March 2025, 13 Mayan municipalities that make up Modevite filed two injunctions challenging the guidelines for conducting public consultations regarding the construction of the Palenque-San Cristóbal highway.
They have also sent documents to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), and the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), but so far there have been no responses.
The regional government delegate requested a roundtable discussion with the communities, held against their will in Yajalón, but the organized communities argued that the meeting should take place in the ejidos where the impacts are occurring. “They want us to sign papers that they’ll later use against us,” they stated.
The documentation caravan, in a document signed by more than 140 organizations, human rights defenders, collectives, academics, and civil society members who completely reject the superhighway, held the authorities responsible for any physical or psychological harm to the people in the communities and human rights defenders who oppose the San Cristóbal-Palenque highway.
Original text by Jeny Pascacio published at Avispa Midia on June 23rd, 2026.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.