Yucatan calls for the rights of its indigenous people to be respected

Mérida, Yucatán.- Through the report on the mega pig farms in Yucatán, activists call to respect the rights of the people who live in indigenous towns and also documented the consultation process as a process that should be applied by the State.

“More than a mere formality, this is the right of indigenous peoples, such as the Mayan people, to decide on the development plans that the government and companies want to carry out in their lands and territories,” they emphasized..

The documentation of this process includes the experience of what took place in July in the Mayan communities of Kinchil, San Fernando (Maxcanú) and Celestún.

The people of these areas convened and participated in a self-consultation to discuss and decide on the presence and continuity of pork companies working in the area.

The consultations were carried out by collectives belonging to U Yutzil Kaj in Maxcanú; the Colectivo Maya del Poniente Chik’in Ja’ in Kinchil and the Consejo Maya del Poniente Chik’in Ja’ in Celestún.

In Celestún, the people voted against the pig farms with more than 1,100 votes; in San Fernando, the result was also negative, while in Kinchil, where there is a greater presence of the company, the citizenry said they are in favor of the presence of the farms with more than 570 votes.

With this exercise, the inhabitants of these indigenous zones seek to set an example of consultation that the State should apply when developing a project.

“We consider that this process of self-managed consultation by the Mayan peoples of Yucatan reflected a true exercise of participation and self-determination of the people, which must be respected by both the State and the companies,” they emphasized.

The documentation of the consultation was also sent to the United Nations (UN) and to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Freedom of Expression.