Protestors in Humún have made good on their promise to take their campaign to the entire world.
Answering a Facebook campaign, activists from faraway lands have taken up the battle against a large, corporate pig farm that has been built in the midst of the cenote ring.
Groundwater could become contaminated from waste generated by as many as 50,000 pigs, critics complain. The 120-hectare/297-acre property is within a nationally protected water reserve. The region is a rural destination known for a network of underground swimming holes that the Maya consider sacred. Communities also depend on eco-tourism that is driven by the series of cenotes.
Although the factory farm was approved by the state, and high-tech mechanisms to protect the environment have been promised, locals fear that pig farms and tourism do not mix.
Now, the protest has expanded from the streets to social media.
Foreigners, who may or may not ever been to Yucatán, much less a cenote, have posted photos of themselves with a message that translates to “Save Homún. Not to the slaughterhouse.”
Local activists have protested in the streets and have held mock votes to draw attention to their anger.
Ukrainian-born Facebook user Drobysheva Ekaterina, now living in Mexico City, said she is sympathetic to the Mayan community, which was bypassed in the decision making when the plant was planned. If the construction is completed, the slaughter house and warehouses will contaminate not only groundwater but also air.
Yucatán is a major pork-producing region, processing more than 2.5 million pigs annually, she notes on Facebook.
“Even though Maya communities have a right to make decisions on their land, huge commercial enterprises do everything is possible to ignore that right,” Ekaterina writes.
To join the Facebook campaign, one can create a paper banner with the text: “Cenotes contra mataderos” or “Salvemos al Homún” and your country’s name. Send a photo of yourself holding the sign to konstrukt77@gmail.com.
Source: Punto Medio
