No intention to evict artisans from Chichén Itzá: official

MERIDA — The director of Yucatan’s Patronato Cultur (cultural agency), Dafne López Martínez, assured that there’s no project to evict the artisans of Chichén Itzá, but on the contrary, work is being done to improve the conditions of the site that benefit all in the community.

“We are very respectful of the declarations and in several occasions we have had a dialogue to advance in different subjects, but definitely there is no subject that has to do with the eviction,” he said.

It was announced that, according to Villevaldo Pech Moo, a member of the National Directorate of the Ayala Plan National Coordination (CNPA), Yucatan, the Federal and State Government, through the National Institute of Archeology and History (INAH), intend to evict a few more than a thousand craftsmen of the archaeological zone of Chichén Itzá.

The legal adviser of the artisans accused the government of sending two messages: on the one hand, publicly they say that they will not evict them, but under the table, through tourist guides, they call on visitors not to buy from the craftsmen because what they sell isn’t good quality and is illegal.

In this sense, Dafne López said that the statements made are striking because tour guides are from the area and even relatives of the artisans themselves, so it sounds strange to be told that these are giving them bad publicity.

“In Cultur we are not thinking of evicting and there is no project in this sense because the subject of Chichén Itzá goes much beyond whether the artisans leave or not”.

“This is a theme to improve the core, to improve services, conditions of the site, the community, families, have benefits, the artisans have the flow of tourists necessary for the artisans to have the livelihood,” he said.

He said that the Cultur agency has always maintained open channels of communication, even with Villevaldo Pech.

Source: www.poresto.net

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