Greenpeace Mexico reaffirms protection for the suspension of Maya Train’s section 5

The legal advisor of Greenpeace Mexico, Luis Miguel Cano, confirmed that the protection to stop the construction of section 5 of the Maya Train remains firm with an extension in favor of a definitive suspension of the works ordered by the relevant authorities.

“This injunction, in addition to declaring the unconstitutionality of the works on Section 5 of the Maya Train, seeks to reform laws and set precedents for future projects. People have the right to obtain information and to participate in projects that impact our lives. It may be thought that the Maya Train will impact only the people who live in the Yucatan Peninsula, but that is not the case: an entire region is impacted, the climate crisis knows no borders”, Cano stated.

In a press conference held in Mexico City, activists from Greenpeace Mexico confirmed the admission of the extension of the lawsuit filed on Friday, July 29 with the file number 1216/2022, which maintains that the authorization in matter of environmental impact relapse to the manifestation of environmental impact regional modality (MIA-R) of the section 5 south of the Maya Train Project is unconstitutional by undermining the rights to information and public participation in environmental matters.

These are recognized in articles 6 and 7 of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Escazú Agreement), from which they must interpret Articles fourth, sixth and 35 of the General Constitution.

This extension requests the Judge to order –at least– the following reparation measures to safeguard human rights through the following points:

-Declare the unconstitutionality of the normative provisions claimed: the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA) and its regulations.

-That the Congress of the Union be ordered to adopt the necessary legislative measures to adapt the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA) in Matters of Evaluation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (REIA) to the standards established in articles 6 and 7 of the Escazú Agreement, with respect to the mechanisms of informed participation that are required within the environmental impact assessment procedure.

-That the President of the Republic adjust the Regulations of the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection in Matters of Environmental Impact Assessment (REIA) to the standards established in articles 6 and 7 of the Escazú Agreement, with respect to the informed participation mechanisms that are required within the environmental impact assessment procedure;

-That restoration or remediation measures be ordered for the ecosystems compromised by the authorization in terms of environmental impact relapse to the manifestation of environmental impact regional modality of the Maya Train project section 5.

A few days ago, the spokesman for the Presidency, Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, said in a tweet that a judge from Mérida, Yucatán, considered that the conditions established had been met, so the construction of the Maya Train in section 5 should continue according to the protections previously established with the numbers 884/2022, 923/2022, and 1003/2022 where the works for its construction had been suspended.

In turn, the general director of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur), Javier May Rodríguez, reaffirmed that the work has always been legal and that now all the requirements of the judge have been met to leave no doubt.

“There are no elements for any suspension, since the Maya Train is a public work that respects the environment and will be inaugurated in 2023,” May Rodríguez concluded.

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