Paraíso Sisal: Campos Brothers, the ecocide of Yucatán

Recently, it was reported that in Sisal the construction of a luxurious housing complex called Paraíso Sisal is advancing in the middle of a virgin beach, for which the builders not only deforested dozens of hectares of mangrove but also invaded the El Palmar State Ecological Reserve.

Inhabitants of the area said they were disconcerted that the Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Semarnat) and the Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (Profepa) would allow construction in this area since it is a reserve.

The inhabitants of Hunucmá and Sisal Pueblo pointed out that the builders are not aware of the ecological risks faced by the environment in this zone, which is a virgin beach.

Who are the Campo brothers?

The inhabitants point out that it is the brother’s Daniel and Víctor Campos Agüero, the latter, majority partner of the restaurant La Recova and other well-known prepared food businesses, who were in charge of the appropriation of the street of San Benito and now Sisal.

It was the commissioner who acknowledged that the Campos Agüero brothers, well-known restaurant businessmen, are the owners of this subdivision and that when an environmental complaint was filed last year, they showed him the permits signed by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), alleging that the land titles were granted several years ago by previous federal, state and municipal administrations.

Semarnat implicated

The residents, as well as the municipal and commissary authorities, find the construction of the Paraíso Sisal complex in the middle of the state reserve strange.

The commissioner acknowledged that the Campos Agüero brothers, well-known restaurant businessmen, are the owners of the development, and that when an environmental complaint was filed last year, they showed him the permits signed by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), alleging that the land titles were granted several years ago by previous federal, state and municipal administrations.

“The Campos brothers showed me the documents, but it is not the commissariat who must verify that they are complying with what has been established, but rather Profepa and Semarnat, and so far they have been conspicuous by their absence,” he stressed.

Background in Dzemul

Last week, the residents of San Benito denounced the Campos Agüero brothers for closing the public road. The brothers claimed to have documents from the Dzemul City Hall that support the transaction, but an inhabitant contacted the director of the Municipal Cadastre of Dzemul, Maribel García, who denied the existence of any property title or registration of the purchase or sale of that street, which could be evidence of some kind of fraud.

Municipal police and personnel from Inspection and Sanction of the Coast of Dzemul closed down the construction of a fence that illegally closes a street in the coastal zone of San Benito, but refused to tear it down.

Even though it is a federal zone, no personnel from the Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Semarnat) or the Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (Profepa) were present at the closure. For the residents, the closure of the wall is a step forward, but they regretted the tardiness of Mayor José Wilberto Flota Aké and said that they will not be satisfied until the wall is demolished.

In response to multiple complaints from locals, Dzemul authorities demolished the wall belonging to the brother’s Daniel and Víctor Campos Agüero. The authorities state that they have not yet had contact with the brothers, but they expect them to show up soon.

TYT Newsroom