Communiqué de Modevite
Kulaktik, Municipio de Tenejapa, Chiapas, September 12, 2026.
TO THE PUBLIC
TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MASS MEDIA,
TO THE THREE LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT
TO RESISTANCE ORGANIZATIONS
In the face of the imposition of megaprojects that cause death and division in the indigenous and campesino communities of Chilón and other municipalities that make up Modevite (Movement in Defense of Life and Territory) we reaffirm that the struggle of the Community of Chilón is also ours!
Similarly, we forcefully denounce the harassment and threats against families in various communities where they are drawing up plans for the work on the superhighway (mis-named “Route of the Maya Cultures.”) This trampling of the rights of our originary peoples involves municipal authorities and government forces as well as political bosses who have control in the region who seek their own economic benefit from agitating and pressuring families for their consent for the highway to pass through their parcels.
For this reason, we demand:
- That they stop wielding this kind of violence against families affected by the highway project.
- Stop slandering our movement, because at no time have we received any money or projects, since we are in resistance defending our heritage; we are certain that the earth is our Mother, and that is why we love her and defend her.
- May they respect our Mother Earth, which IS NOT FOR SALE! because it is the source of *our ancestral pluriculture.
We urge all our brothers and sisters who are acting in bad faith to reconsider and turn their hearts toward building peace, unity, and the love of Christ.
“Never again a Mexico Without Us.”
“Sowing Justice to Reap Peace.”
Sincerely,
Movement in Defense of Life and Territory (MODEVITE)
“The land is not for sale—it is to be loved and defended”
“No to projects of death!
Yes to life, yes to our land, yes to autonomy!”
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.