Federal court stops the works of the Maya Train in Yucatan indefinitely

The environmental authorization that SEMARNAT gave to Fonatur for the works of the “Tren Maya” was suspended indefinitely, and all the works that imply deforestation, risk for native animal and plant species, must be stopped immediately.

(Sipse) MÉRIDA, Yucatán.- In an unappealable sentence, a federal court annulled indefinitely the endorsement that the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARTNAT) had granted to Fonatur through the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA).

This allowed changing the forest land use of 800 hectares of jungle along 635 kilometers in 25 municipalities of Chiapas, Campeche, Tabasco and Yucatán.

Since the works of the Maya train began, inhabitants of areas where this transport will presumably cross have complained about logging and deforestation, for which they promoted the protection against said activities, which was ratified two weeks ago by the collegiate court.

The ruling in this regard indicates that the suspension entails the cessation of all work derived from such authorization, which implies deforestation or put at risk native animal and plant species.

“The responsible authority (SEMARNAT) must take the appropriate measures so that the holder of the environmental authorization (Fonatur) stops its actions as well as any other individual related to Fonatur,” is added in the suspension.

According to what was published by Reforma, the “individuals” are the construction companies of sections 1 to 3, for which Fonatur has assigned four contracts totaling 48.9 billion pesos, including a recent one for a bypass that will avoid going through the city of Campeche.

The determination was approved unanimously by the three magistrates of the federal court.

It is worth mentioning that just last February 23, Fonatur asked the court to clarify the sentence, since apparently it is not clear whether it should stop all the works, or just some of them.

In 2021, the Federal Judiciary Council (CJF) concentrated all the injunctions (amparos) against the Maya Train before a single court in Mérida, while the collegiate court was in charge of all reviews.

On Sunday, March 6th, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that the entire route of the Maya Train, which is more than 1,500 kilometers long, only affects 100 hectares of jungle, and that 200,000 hectares are being reforested, an area larger than the entire Mexico City.

TYT Newsroom