The Mexican government recently announced the Indigenous communities in southern Mexico have voted overwhelmingly in favor of launching President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s railway venture, which aims to reduce poverty, provide economic stimulation and tourism growth.
Disconnected regions featuring archaeological gems such as Chichen Itza and Palenque will now be easily accessible as the $6 billion “Maya Train” plans to travel through poverty-stricken southeastern Mexico connecting Caribbean resorts located in Cancun and Playa del Carmen.
Nationalist and anti-establishment leftist Lopez Obrador is known as “AMLO”, claims the tourist train that will traverse through Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula will prompt immediate economic improvements in the region.
Due to the lack of transparency, and lingering questions on the environmental repercussions of the build, activists and indigenous peoples alike have shown resistance.
With that being said, the region’s communities have approved of the development of the infrastructure after the staggering results of a highly criticized public consultation became official.
The referendum, held in a classic ballot-box manner by 84 municipalities that will be directly affected by the train voted, while hundreds of indigenous villages decided to hold communal councils to discuss the megaproject.
Adelfo Regino Montes, head of Mexico’s National Indigenous Peoples’ Institute said, “There is a general consensus unanimous, in support of building and implementing the Maya Train program.”
Further backing Adelfo’s statements the deputy minister for development, Diana Alvarez stated, “We have 93,142 Mexicans who voted ‘Yes’, equivalent to 92.3 percent of the vote,” – a compelling result.
Indigenous communities have demanded attention from the government on urgent matters surrounding the railway’s construction. These concerns range from the protection of environmental and archaeological sites to social costs and the status of schools, roads, and hospitals. This will help mitigate worries that surround the destruction of the biodiverse and delicate ecology that is southern Mexico.
With a sense of urgency at hand, President Lopez Obrador said the first tender is set to take off as soon as January 1st.
Opponents of the President have made a compelling argument that he utilizes the “people’s consultations”, a tactic implemented to avoid oversight by electoral authorities, to impose his stance on controversial issues. In recent past, relatable decisions by referendum have been made by President Obrador, including the construction of an oil refinery in his home state of Tabasco, and the cancellation of a $13 billion airport that was in preliminary stages upon its abandonment.
By: Joseph O. Gravel / December 30, 2019
