Mayan Train Demonstrators Attempt To Stop the Work

On Monday, the Milenio newspaper reported that activists from Greenpeace, which intended to stop the work of construction in the Quintana Roo section of the Maya Train railroad, tied themselves to heavy machinery. Starting from the municipality of Solidaridad, demonstrators from the environmental organization pretended to remain tethered to the machinery all day.

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Recently the federal government has modified the route of section 5 of the railroad, displacing the Cancún-Tulum stretch inland, given the complaints of the business community in Playa del Carmen because of its construction through the center of the coastal resort city. Riots have been emerged both at the site of the deforestation and online, as the jungle has been cleared for the construction of the tracks on the modified route.

According to Greenpeace, demonstrators stated that section 5 was designed to go through the jungle without previous environmental studies. They added the damage caused to flora, fauna and underground rivers in Quintana Roo will be irrevocable, inviting people to sign a Greenpeace petition against the "devastation of the Mayan jungle."

Mexican President López Obrador was called by Aleira Lara, campaigns director for Greenpeace México, for the suspension of the construction of section 5 of his 8 billion dollars signature infrastructure project, which is expected to be complete by 2023 and will run through Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas.

Mayan train. From the jungle and with a giant blanket, Greenpeace calls to suspend works on section 5 | The Universal - The Universal

"As it is planned, this route will fragment, deforest, a strip of animals [and] contaminate … the jungle, the rivers, and the communities," Lara said. Probabilities of Lòpez Obrador suspending the project is very slow, as he rejected the allegations that the Mayan Train project would cause extensive environmental damage and described its opponents as "pseudo-environmentalists."

"In 1,500 kilometers of the train, only 100 hectares [of vegetation] will be affected, mainly weeds. However, at the same time, 200,000 hectares are being reforested; three large natural parks (18,000 hectares) will be created and on the edge of the tracks, rows of flowering trees will be planted," posted President López Obrador on Facebook.