We invite you to sign and disseminate this statement in support of the Declaration of Megaproject-Free Territories of indigenous peoples and communities of Chiapas, who are fighting for the defense of their territory and the right to self-determination.
📢 Sign to express your solidarity with their rejection of the Palenque-San Cristobal highway, a megaproject imposed without informed consultation that threatens community life, the environment and the rights of native peoples.
✊ Your signature is an important support for communities in resistance to dispossession and criminalization.
Sign the form here!
In our ejido of Candelaria, we don’t want the highway because the lands that we have are good.
The government wants to affect the lands in our ejido, because it has its eye on the richness in our lands.
On our lands we have water, spring water from which we live.
If the government really wants to help us, it should build schools so that our sons and daughters can study, or build clinics where we can cure ourselves.
We are all in agreement to NOT ACCEPT THE SUPERHIGHWAY!”
Watch all the videos of voices against the superhighway here: https://modevite.wordpress.com/voces-del-pueblo-rechazo-total-a-la-megacarretera/
To the Federal, Local, and Municipal Governments of Mexico
To National and International Civil Society Organizations
To National, and International Human Rights Centers
To Indigenous, Afro-descendant Peoples, Communities, and Organizations
To the Local, National, and International Press
We, the individuals, collectives, and organizations that subscribe this document, express our strongest support to the Declaration of Territories Free from Megaprojects signed by the Indigenous Peoples and Communities of Chiapas, part of the Movimiento en Defensa de la Vida y el Territorio (MODEVITE). We stand in solidarity with their resistance in the defense of their territory, culture, and rights to autonomy and self-determination.
As the affected Communities and Peoples have stated the construction of the Palenque–San Cristóbal de las Casas highway, promoted by the state government, is a megaproject that threatens their lives. Furthermore, the government has violated their rights to free, prior, and informed consent. This highway threatens their right to a healthy and sustainable environment, this construction may generate negative environmental impacts such as deforestation, water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. It also affects the right to preserve culture, as the highway would impact the cultural integrity and sacred sites that Indigenous Communities have inhabited and protected for centuries. Finally, it threatens their right to territory, as it involves the loss of ancestral lands and territories.
The Declaration of Territories Free from Megaprojects by the Indigenous Peoples of Chiapas is based in Article 2 of the Mexican Constitution, which recognizes Indigenous Peoples as subjects of public law. It is also supported by international treaties ratified by Mexico, such as the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which establish the rights to self-determination and to inhabit and decide over the territories. Additionally, it is based on International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169, which establishes the right of Peoples to free, prior, and informed consultation on projects that may affect their territories, and the right to determine their own forms of development.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples also recognizes the right of Peoples to maintain and strengthen their own spiritual, cultural, and material relationship with the land and territories, as well as the conservation and protection of the environment in which they live. Therefore, before any government project that affects community life, the Peoples have the final say to consent on these decisions. Indigenous territories in Mexico have historically faced threats and discrimination from governmental and private interests that prioritize profit over collective well-being.
We, the individuals, collectives, and organizations that undersign, express our full support for the actions implemented by the Indigenous Peoples of Chiapas to protect what belongs to them. We also support the collective decisions they make to ensure a dignified life and the continuity of their culture.
Concerned about the fate of Mother Earth and of Indigenous Peoples and Communities, we demand that local authorities, the government of Chiapas, and the Mexican State:
- Recognize and respect the right of Indigenous peoples and communities to freely decide on their territory and development models, including roads and highways crossing their territories.
- Respect and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples by ensuring free, prior, and informed consultation on projects affecting their territories and rights.
- Guarantee and protect respect for the material and immaterial cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples.
- Ensure the protection of the environment and biodiversity in Indigenous territories.
- End the violence and criminalization of land and human rights defenders.
Respect for the Autonomy and Self-Determination of Indigenous Peoples!
Justice for Mother Earth and Indigenous Peoples!
Stop the violence and criminalization of defenders of Mother Earth!
Urgent protection and care for Mother Earth!
Planet Earth, May 19, 2025
Watch all the videos here: https://modevite.wordpress.com/voces-del-pueblo-rechazo-total-a-la-megacarretera/
For more information, see:
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Web: https://modevite.wordpress.com/