Mérida, Yucatán — The lawyer of the human rights group Indignación and a representative of the inhabitants of Homún, Lourdes Guadalupe Medina Carrillo, told reporters that they are willing take their fight against a pig farm to the world stage.
The press conference follows a defeat in court, when a judge rejected an amparo, or order of protection, to stop construction of a corporate-owned farm that would house at least 23,000 pigs. The protesters, who have formed a civil association called Ka’anan Ts’onot (Guardians of the Cenotes), have appealed.
Residents of Homún, and operators of several nearby cenotes, worry about the farm’s impact on the environment and the eco-tourism that they depend on.
The court is not the only channel at the protesters’ disposal. They have also applied to the Court of Administrative Litigation where they demanded that they be recognized as a third party with standing. They were informed that the court’s judgment is pending.
He stressed that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation could accept the case, or it could be passed to international bodies, such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The people of Homún are willing to take their case to a world stage, reporters were told.
The secretary of Ka’anan Ts’onot, José Clemente May Echeverría, insisted that the complainants have sought dialogue with the Ministry of Urban Development and Environment (Seduma).
“It is a lie that there is closure. We communicate, we want dialogue but they invite us to workshops and conferences and that is not dialogue,” said May Echeverría.
Finally, the collective reiterated its position against the construction and operation of the farm.
They also made five demands to the state authorities, such as the inclusion of the indigenous peoples in the realization of environmental impact demonstrations for the development of mega projects, the suspension of the granting of permits to mega projects settled in the geo-hydrological reserve of the Cenote Ring and the analysis of the State Development Plan and the Ecological Management Program.
In the communiqué read by María Cristina Martín Rosado, one of the organizers of an upcoming demonstration, she called out Seduma’s insinuation that the indigenous community of Homún was ignorant regarding modern wastewater processing.
She invited citizens to join the protest at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 3 at the Monumento a la Patria. The contingent will march to the Government Palace, where they intend to dialogue with state authorities.
At the Government Palace, they will also carry out cultural activities, such as a poster contest that addresses the issue.
Source: Desde El Balcón
