The Binniza Community Assembly of Puente Madera and the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defense of Land and Territory (APIIDTT) express our deepest solidarity with the families of those who died and were injured in the derailment of the Interoceanic Corridor train on December 28, 2025. We share their pain and anger, because this tragedy was not an isolated incident or an unforeseeable accident: it was the direct consequence of a megaproject that was imposed, militarized, and hastily constructed with disregard for human life.
We say this clearly and bluntly: someone is responsible for this crime. The Secretariat of the Navy is directly responsible for planning, building, managing, and operating the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, its train, and industrial parks. SEMAR has taken on a role that does not belong to it, acting as promoter, judge, and executor of a civil project protected by the armed forces and operated without transparency or accountability.
We denounce that this megaproject has been developed through subcontracting schemes involving companies favored by networks of nepotism, corruption, and influence peddling, without real safety controls, independent oversight, or respect for local conditions. Today, those decisions have concrete consequences: injured bodies, lives cut short, and devastated families.
For years, we have warned about the risks of the Interoceanic Corridor. We warned that the rush to inaugurate projects, meet political deadlines, and attract investment would endanger communities and those who use this infrastructure. We warned that “development” cannot be built on poorly planned roads, fragmented territories, and decisions imposed from above. No one listened.
This project was sold to us as progress, employment, and well-being. But day by day, its true face is being revealed: a logistics corridor at the service of global capitalism, designed to move goods, energy, and capital between oceans, not to guarantee rights or improve the lives of the peoples of the Isthmus.
Like the so-called Maya Train, this train was never intended for the people. Passenger transport is just a temporary pretext. Its real purpose is to become a freight train, connecting ports, industrial parks, gas pipelines, and free trade zones. For this model, our lives, our lands, and our cultures are an obstacle.
The tragedy of December 28 confirms what we have tirelessly denounced: that the Interoceanic Corridor puts the population at constant risk; that militarization does not bring security, only impunity; that imposition generates violence, community division, and death; and that this model of “development” needs to criminalize, persecute, and silence those who question it.
It is no coincidence that as construction progresses, violence stemming from disputes between criminal groups increases, and, more seriously, threats, arbitrary detentions, legal proceedings, and smear campaigns against defenders of the territory increase. It is no coincidence that the state, the navy, and the judicial system are being used to try to break up community organizations. It is part of the same machinery of dispossession.
We do not accept that this tragedy be minimized or managed with official speeches. We do not accept sham investigations or empty promises while the project continues intact. We demand truth, justice, punishment for those responsible, full reparation for the victims, and an immediate end to this model of death.
Our struggle is neither ideological nor capricious: it is for life, dignity, and the right of peoples to decide on their territory. We will continue to organize, denounce, and resist, because the Isthmus is not a sacrifice zone and our peoples are not for sale.
No more death in the name of “progress.”
The lives of the people are worth more than your trains, industrial parks, and businesses.
Sincerely,
Assembly of the Binniza Indigenous Community of Puente Madera
Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defense of Land and Territory (APIIDTT)
Original text published by APIIDTT on December 30th, 2025.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.