Mexico City | Desinformémonos. The Movement in Defense of Life and Territory (Modevite) denounced the violation of their rights as indigenous peoples in Chiapas due to the imposition of the highway project known as the “Highway of Cultures”, which “does not represent a benefit” for the communities.
In a communiqué, Modevite accused “the path of imposition and false consultations” on the highway, which runs from San Cristóbal de las Casas to Palenque, as they pointed out that the peoples were not consulted in a prior, free and informed manner, nor has there been any transparency on the environmental and cultural impact of the project or the source of its financing.
“The project has been sold as progress for the people, however, for us who travel daily from our fields to our community it does not represent a benefit,” said the Movement’s defenders.
On February 22, the governor of Chiapas, Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar, organized an event in Bachajón, in the municipality of Chilón, to carry out a “public consultation” on the project, in which not all the affected communities participated, nor were international standards on consultation with indigenous peoples complied with.
“No to rigged consultations, consultations by a show of hands when the population does not have the necessary information,” denounced the communities of the Movement.
They added that the announcement of the reactivation of the construction of the highway in April 2024 was “under threat” and with a “message to those who oppose” the project, which “hides the same as always: colonialism, racism and favoring the interests of large transnationals, extractive companies, drug traffickers and the government.”
Attempts to build the highway have been going on for 20 years. In her election campaign, the now president Claudia Sheinbaum promised to conclude the works for the “benefit of the indigenous communities,” despite the fact that the affected peoples were not consulted.
“We are not against progress, we are against the violation of our rights, imposition and authoritarianism”, assured the Modevite, who reiterated his stance against the ‘destruction of Mother Earth’, of their territory and culture.
Letter to the Government of Mexico
To the Federal Government
To the State Government of Chiapas
To the Municipal Governments
To the National and International Human Rights Organizations To the Media
To social and civil organizations
To the indigenous peoples
To public opinion:
The communities that make up the Movement in Defense of Life and Territory (MODEVITE), we ask ourselves:
Who benefits most from the construction of the San Cristóbal-Palenque highway?
As native peoples we 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 the right to free, prior and informed consultation stipulated in articles 2, 6 and 7 of the Mexican Constitution and in international treaties. The path of imposition and false consultations destroys the life of our communities.
Since the reactivation of the construction of the Palenque-San Cristóbal highway was announced in April 2024, it was announced under warning, sending a message to those who opposed it, the project has been sold as progress for the people, however, for us who move daily from our milpa to our community it DOES NOT REPRESENT A BENEFIT.
We do not want more destruction of Mother Earth and our culture, today we demonstrate again against a project that aims to dispossess us of our territories rich in water, trees and vast natural resources, a project that hides the same as always: colonialism, racism and favoring the interests of large transnational corporations, extractive companies, the drug traffickers and the government.
Furthermore, to decide the future of the communities and indigenous peoples, claiming that they will be the main beneficiaries of a project of which they are unaware, 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 has been driven for years by the Mexican State.
For which we demand:
– Respect for our rights: Free, prior, informed consultation for the native peoples.
– Stop dispossession: We will not allow our land and resources to be taken away from us.
– Justice and transparency: Delivery of the document on the environmental and cultural impact of the construction of the construction of the highway.
– Economic budget and the origin of its financing.
– Information on the results of the consultation in each community, ejido and municipality where they intend to build the highway.
We are not against progress, we are against the violation of our rights, imposition and authoritarianism, benefiting a few to the detriment of the land and territory that have been the source of life for our peoples.
Our land is not to be sold, it is to be loved and defended!
Sincerely,
Movement in Defense of Life and Territory. Chilón, Chiapas, February 17, 2025.
Text and photos published by Desinformémonos on February 25th, 2025.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas