Mexico City | Desinformémonos. “The construction of the highway, presented as an act of ‘consensus’ and ‘community participation’, is a farce,” assured the Movement in Defense of Life and Territory (Modevite), after the governor of Chiapas Eduardo Ramirez inaugurated the construction of the Palenque – San Cristobal de las Casas superhighway, despite the fact that the affected communities were not consulted and families were dispossessed of their plots of land.
In a communiqué, the Tseltal, Ch’oles, Tsotsil and Mestizo peoples that make up the Movement assured that “it is a vile lie” that the government of Chiapas dialogued directly with the owners of the properties or plots of land crossed by the highway line, in addition to the fact that it did not carry out a prior, free, informed, good faith and culturally appropriate consultation on the work and violated the right to self-determination of the peoples.
Ramírez Aguilar gave the “starting signal” to the construction of the highway, which is part of the so-called “Route of Mayan Cultures,” with a “Mayan ritual” and the blessing of the project’s machinery, even though there are two injunctions against it for the lack of environmental information and for the “rigged consultations” and “freehand” carried out by the government to move forward with the construction.
“The government intends to legitimize a project of death by using our ancestral ceremonies and blessing the machines that will come to destroy our environment and the life of the community. We reject that they use us to legitimize projects that only benefit the political and economic elites of the state of Chiapas,” said the Modevite, who described Ramírez Aguilar’s speech as ‘deceitful’ for not pointing out ‘clearly and precisely the damages that this mega-project entails’.
For more than six years, the inhabitants of the ten municipalities through which the highway passes have rejected the imposition of the road, which will connect with other extractive megaprojects such as the Mayan Train and the Transisthmian Corridor.
In her electoral campaign, the now president Claudia Sheinbaum promised to conclude the works for the “benefit of the indigenous communities” and later classified the work as a “priority.” Ramírez Aguilar’s speech at the inauguration of the construction reiterated that the project represents “a benefit for the people.”
“Contrary to the official story of ‘community development’, this highway is the gateway to the devastation of our Mother Earth,” since only in the first phase of the project 387 hectares of jungle will be destroyed, as well as contaminate the rivers of the region and ‘raze’ the ceremonial mounds, the Modevite asserted.
In addition, the communities explained, the project will allow “covert privatization,” because “when the governor affirms that ‘the income from the toll […] will remain in the hands of those who support it,’ he hides the fact that the beneficiaries will be tourism and agro-export companies.”
Finally, they pointed out that the mega-project will open the way to militarization and repression in the area through the deployment of security forces, as well as “harassment and criminalization” of those who oppose the construction.
As a violation of their rights as indigenous peoples, Modevite demanded that the authorities immediately cancel the highway project and the environmental permits that have been “illegally granted,” as well as an international investigation “into the simulation of the consultation.” They also demanded the immediate withdrawal of security forces from their territories and respect for their autonomy as indigenous peoples.
“We will not allow the history of dispossession to be repeated; if the government insists on imposing death, the organized peoples will defend life with the strength of our ancestral dignity,” concluded the Movement.
Below is the full communiqué:
MOVEMENT IN DEFENSE OF LIFE AND TERRITORY
Communiqué
“The territory is ours.”
CHILON CHIAPAS COMMUNITY GOVERNMENT
Community Government Council
From the heart of the Tseltal, Ch’oles, Tsotsil and mestizo peoples who inhabit the ancestral territories of Chiapas, as the Movement in Defense of Life and Territory (MODEVITE) we raise our voices to denounce the imposition of the highway project called “Route of the Maya Cultures” (Palenque-Ocosingo).
We categorically reject the deceptive discourse of Governor Eduardo Ramirez Aguilar, in the event of the “banderazo” of June 8 in the municipality of Palenque, it is a vile lie since he affirms that he has dialogued directly with the owners of the properties or plots of land that cross the line of this highway. The government intends to legitimize a project of death by using our ancestral ceremonies and blessing the machines that will destroy our environment and the life of the community. We reject that they use us to legitimize projects that only benefit the political and economic elites of the state of Chiapas.
He claims that it is a benefit for the people but does not specify clearly and precisely the damages that this mega work entails, one of them the indiscriminate dispossession of the material resources it has, affecting the interests of the ancestral owners inherited from father to children and from children to grandchildren.
As Modevite we analyze this discourse and say that contrary to the official narrative of “community development,” this highway is the gateway to:
1. The devastation of our Mother Earth: The first stage of the project will destroy 387 hectares of jungle, contaminate the rivers of the region (such as the Jatataté and Tulijá), and raze our ceremonial hills. This violates Convention 169 (Art. 13) which protects our spiritual relationship with the land.
2. Hidden privatization: When the governor states: “The income from the toll […] will remain in the hands of those who support it”, he hides the fact that the beneficiaries will be tourism and agro-export companies.
3. Militarization and repression: The deployment of security forces in the area (documented by the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center) seeks to silence our resistance.
We as landowners were discriminated against in our rights as ejidatarios, to the point of violating our land tenure rights by removing and dispossessing us of the plots that are the patrimony of each of our families, using the ejido authorities to intimidate the ejidatarios to remove or dispossess them of their plots using the slogan that the ejido is for common use and that we have no right to use or claim our land.
Worse yet, our rights as indigenous peoples were and are being violated, one of them being the right to free, prior and informed consultation. The construction of the highway, presented as an act of “consensus” and “community participation,” is a farce. While the governor declares: “The route of the Mayan cultures was woven with the word… from the good faith of the community,” we denounce it:
traditional communities were pressured with empty promises, but also under threats of no longer being benefited with projects to which we have rights.
⚫ The right to self-determination was violated: The government imposed biased questions “do you want the big highway to be built?,” ignoring that our custom demands to move the word from below and discuss the “for what,” “for whom” and “with what consequences”.
We assert that the highway is being pushed through without the approval of the indigenous communities, violating our human rights. It is a lie that the communities have been consulted. In the process organized by the government, the consent of a small power group that does not represent the feelings and thoughts of our peoples was obtained. This project represents the beginning of the devastation of our Mother Earth and all the life we have preserved for centuries. The construction of this highway will destroy jungles, rivers, springs and sacred territories, in addition to altering community ways of life, facilitating territorial dispossession and opening the way for extractive interests.
Lastly, we are concerned about the deployment of security forces in the areas where the project is planned, as well as the harassment and criminalization of those who organize in defense of the territory. We have observed the government’s intimidating way of operating, removing signs where we express our disagreement with the destruction of our lands and mother earth, as well as using the media to distort and hide the true intentions of the mega project, which is why we raise our voices as indigenous peoples of the State of Chiapas, against this mega project.
Therefore, we demand:
– Immediate cancellation of the road project and all environmental permits granted illegally endangering our livelihoods.
-International investigation into the simulation of the consultation, with the presence of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
– Immediate withdrawal of police and military forces from our territories.
– Respect for our autonomy as indigenous peoples, for our right to self-determination We will not allow the history of dispossession to be repeated; if the government insists on imposing death, the organized peoples will defend life with the force of our ancestral dignity.
THE LAND IS NOT FOR SALE, IT IS LOVED AND DEFENDED!
Organized Communities of Modevite
June 12, 2025.
Original text published by Desinformémonos on July 13, 2025.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.