Photo: El Diario de Yucatán

By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

Mexico’s controversial Tren Maya tourist train, a pet project of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) that both national and international environmentalists have repeatedly warned could destroy over half of the Yucatan’s fragile species, will also leave more than 3,000 mostly indigenous Mexican families homeless, according to report published in El Universal newspaper on Wednesday, April 28.

The train, which AMLO surrendered both construction and commercialization of to his ever-expanding National Guard (GN), will displace at least 3,286 private homes located on 2,294 lots of land that are currently located in what will be the Tren Maya’s path, according to a study conducted by the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur) that EL Universal obtained.

The Fonatur report stated that the relocation of the families currently living in those homes will cost the government at least 3.58 billion pesos.

The project, submitted for consideration by the Investment Unit of the Mexico’s Finance and Public Credit Secretariat, will involve moving entire neighborhoods in various cities across four states (Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatán and Quintana Roo), including Campeche, Cancún, Candelaria, Chiná, Escárcega, Mérida, Palenque, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Tenosique, Calkiní and Benito Juárez.

The report went on to note that some families currently living in the affected areas will be forced to move because their close proximity to the projected high-speed train would endanger both themselves and the Tren Maya itself.

Fonatur indicated that no residences within 20 meters of the tracks would be allowed to remain.

The report suggested that 1,314 households would be forced to move this year, and an additional 1,972 households would be displaced in 2022.

…April 29, 2021