Aerial view of the Greenpeace protest at the Mayan Train works in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, on March 28.GREENPEACE
The maelstrom unleashed by the impact of the construction of the Mayan Train in the Yucatan Peninsula is permeating the borders of Mexico.
In a harsh statement, the organization Ocean Futures Society, of the marine explorer Jean-Michael Cousteau, has criticized that the works are advancing in the jungle without having "the essential" environmental impact study and has asked President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to listen to "the honest requests made by organized groups in Mexico, represented by artists, musicians, environmental defenders, researchers and academics."
“We can assure you that we are not paid by anyone to make this comment public,” the letter reads.
The statement comes after the machinery of the so-called
4T
mobilized in defense of the president's flagship project, calling those who have raised their voices against the Mayan Train "pseudo-environmentalists."
The controversy escalated when artists such as Eugenio Derbez, Kate del Castillo or Natalia Lafourcade published a video warning about the impacts of the change in the layout of the roads between Cancun and Tulum, which are passing through an area of virgin jungle full of caves, cenotes and underground rivers.
“Where were the pseudo-environmentalists when the true devastation of southeastern Mexico began years ago?” responded the Ministry of the Environment in a statement published this weekend.
The Cousteau Foundation asks the Government to agree to tour the area affected by the construction, together with environmentalists and scientists, where dozens of hectares of jungle are being deforested and a vital source of water is being "in serious danger."
"We must not forget that no one owns a country and that each generation must ensure that it is left in a better state than it received at the time."
In an interview with EL PAÍS, Rubén Arvizu, general director for Latin America of the organization, emphasizes the absence of an environmental impact statement, an essential requirement for the construction of any work.
"Things have been skipped as they should be done," he laments.
The Government hides behind a decree published at the end of last year,
A guide shows an opening in the Garra de Jaguar cave, near Playa del Carmen, through which the Mayan Train intends to pass.Teresa de Miguel
The Cousteau's relationship with Mexico is extensive.
The French explorer's fascination with the Sea of Cortez led him to baptize it "the world's aquarium" and in Nayarit he filmed the documentary
The Island of the Birds
.
With Yucatan the story goes back to 1975, when a lobster fisherman saw a sleeping shark in a cave off Isla Mujeres.
The image was quite a discovery: until then it was thought that sharks had to be always in motion to survive.
The fisherman told the story to Mexican diver Ramón Bravo, who decided to investigate the subject and captured the first images of sleeping sharks.
Bravo contacted Cousteau, who, very interested in the story, dedicated one of his famous documentaries to
The Sleeping Sharks of the Yucatan
.
His son Jean-Michael continued that relationship, exploring the cenotes and caverns of the peninsula for years.
The controversy surrounding the Mayan Train has continued to swell this Monday with an action by the environmental organization Greenpeace in the area of the works near Playa del Carmen.
A dozen activists have chained themselves to the machines that are felling the jungle, supported by as many other members of local organizations such as MOCE Yax Cuxtal or Centinelas del Agua.
Activists have criticized the arrival of an Army vehicle with four soldiers wielding long weapons.
“There was no situation like that, it was an intimidating action,” laments Patricia Godínez, from MOCE Yax Cuxtal.
The activists remained chained to the machines until 5 pm, when the construction company's work hours end.
They only allowed personnel from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH),
A Greenpeace activist is chained to the machinery for the construction of the Mayan Train at the height of Playa del Carmen, this Monday.GREENPEACE
Despite the criticism that the project is receiving and the protections that the communities are presenting, it does not seem that the Government is willing to negotiate a change in the layout of the train so that the tracks once again run along the highway that already connects Cancun and Tulum, as originally planned.
Heavy machinery has been advancing into the jungle on section 5 south, which goes from Playa del Carmen to Tulum, in charge of the construction companies Grupo México and Acciona.
Meanwhile, the works that go from Cancun to Playa del Carmen are about to start with the arrival of military engineers in the area, who until now had been dedicated to the construction of another of the president's great projects, the recently inaugurated Airport. Felipe Angeles International.
"The people of the region want and see in the Mayan Train a path of hope for their well-being and happiness in their own communities, unlike what was done in previous administrations to perpetuate the benefit of a few," said the Ministry of Environment in its statement last Saturday.
The institution insisted that it is "promoting the conservation of the territory through the expansion and creation of Protected Natural Areas", although it did not offer more details about them.
For his part, President López Obrador has highlighted the creation of a 1,000-hectare park dedicated to the protection of the jaguar near Tulum and assured in his morning conference this Monday that the works will not affect the cenotes of the region.
Environmentalists question it.
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