The Tren Maya and Corruption in Capitalism

Return to the Yucatán

As I previously shared, I was in a gnarly car accident in the Yucatán back in June while riding in a commuter van. The insurance company of the van awarded me a settlement to help with medical bills. The catch was that I had to return to the scene of the crime and pick up a paper check from the police station in Valladolid.

Although not a life experience I seek to repeat, it gave me a good excuse to continue with my Yucatán adventure. After Valladolid, I continued through the peninsula to spend some time in the Selva Maya and visit Calakmul. 

The Selva Maya is a massive tropical forest spanning the Yucatán peninsula, southern Mexico, northern Guatemala, and Belize. The Reserva de la Biósfera Calakmul is the largest and best-preserved area in the selva. Calakmul itself is one of the most ancient and advanced Mayan cities. Construction began in 350 BC with monoliths that weigh up to 3 tons. Between the monoliths, sophisticated understanding of celestial bodies, and deep knowledge of the plant kingdom¹, theories abound that aliens must have helped build the Mayan civilization.  

I’ve written before that ecotourism is an important pillar of a sustainable economy. Ecotourism provides an economic alternative to logging, deforestation for agriculture, mining, or other extractive activities.

In the name of rural economic development, the Mexican federal government launched the Tren Maya (“Maya Train”), heralded as a project to “improve the quality of life of the people, care for the environment, and detonate sustainable development.”

I camped on the grounds of a couple that has spent decades living in the jungle to learn more.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised to protect the forest and include the affected communities as partners in the project. He went as far as to say “not a single tree” would be cut down. The construction would employ 140,000 Yucatecans. Locals were to be able to transport their produce (maíz, miel (honey), etc) at reduced fare, have dedicated spaces to sell regional products at train stations, and receive technical support to build touristic enterprises.

The on-the-ground reality is a far cry.

Huge chunks of the jungle have been deforested to make way for train tracks and work roads.  Construction trucks and semi-trailers thunder down the roads at all times of the day and night, shaking homes, restaurants, and animal habitats.

Underground cenotes (caverns) are collapsing from the construction, further contaminating the already depleted and polluted aquifer.

Construction jobs are temporary and most of the permanent jobs on the train will only be available to those with educational credentials, which is highly uncommon in these rural areas.

The fare on the train will be up to 6,000 pesos (~$325), an enormous sum for the area. The government has reneged on the promised sales at stations.

No support to local tourism has been provided. Worse still, the government permitted a 160-person hotel in the middle of the Reserva de la Biósfera Calakmul. As my host said, the hotel “viola todos los derechos de un área protegida que está mencionada por la UNESCO.” The hotel violates all the rights of a protected area distinguished by UNESCO. It’s like ripping up biodiversity hotspots in the Amazon for a train and a luxury hotel.

“Dicen que somos socios. Le ponemos la tierra y ustedes ponen la infraestructura. Pero no. dicen que si no vendemos, se las vamos a expropiar.” They say that we’re partners. We give the land and they build the infrastructure. But no. They tell us if we don’t sell the land (at below-market value), then they will expropriate it.

Meanwhile, local families still aren’t allowed to tend beehives for honey or collect native seeds because all economic activities are prohibited in protected areas.

So, rather than an eco-touristic boon for rural communities of southeastern México, the Tren Maya appears to be a military-run ecological catastrophe that mostly benefits the hotelero (hotelier) friends of the government.

“The train is not Maya, it’s military.”

There are myriad stories of government corruption and collusion with capitalistas at the expense of local communities. Miguel Antonio Ek Pech warned that “the Pueblo Mágico title has meant beach erosion, the destruction of mangroves, and lots of outside interests only interested in exploiting our town and its people.” Locals warn that all the cenotes and subterranean aquifers of the Yucatán are heavily contaminated by the proliferation of pork and poultry farms. Farms which are often created by forced displacement of local families and for the benefit of well-connected empresarios. It’s all too common in the world.

What we often don’t realize is that the US is not that dissimilar. If you look at the Farm Bill, 70% of federal funding funnels into mono-cropped corn, soy, and wheat, most of which is fed to livestock. These commodities are heavily controlled by massive corporations. 4 companies control 80% of beef, 70% of pork, 50% of poultry, and 80% of grain. Legislators determine how funds are allocated and they are heavily influenced if not controlled by the proliferation of corporate money in lobbying and campaign contributions.² So, we have taxpayer money flowing into the federal government then appropriated by compromised legislators to subsidize destructive agricultural practices that almost entirely benefit corporations.

Sounds like outright corruption with an extra step.

In many ways we’ve strayed far from the founding principles of democratic government. A government of the people, by the people, for the people. It feels like a government paid for by the people, for the benefit of corporations and ultra wealthy, while people and planet suffer.

And that sucks.

I have faith in democratic institutions. Collective action, well organized, can change our industries. Citizens can vote with their dollars and move supply chains. Organizations like the Grupo Ecológico de la Sierra Gorda can implement with big government on behalf of the people and implement transformational programs. Government action and public policy are absolutely essential to rehabilitate our planet, but the corruption has to stop.

What makes you most optimistic that we can influence government? What are the most effective ways to galvanize government action in service to the people and planet?

I want to hear what you all think.

Footnotes

¹ The ethnobotany of the Selva Maya is considered the 2nd most important in the world behind the Amazon.

² Corporations can legally donate unlimited amounts of money to campaigns while individuals are restricted.