Communication and Information S.A. of C.V.
July 7, 2001
By Juan Rodriquez

Felipe Carrillo Puerto, QR- The Pueblo-Panama Plan (PPP) has raised red flags within the Mayan communities from south of Mexico to Central American. Arriving from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras , Belize, and the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quitana Roo (this last state acting as the host), delegates of the great Mayan people will unite to analyze what the PPP represents and to determine a position to take against the threats that this plan raises for these people.

The summit meeting of these so named great Mayan people has as its goal to elaborate and release a declaration regarding what the PPP means to them. They consider the plan a threat to their culture and their natural resources because it will provoke a displacement of its people by the predominance of big money interests.

The Felipe Carrillo Puerto municipality in Quintana Roo was desgnated as "popol-ná", which means "house of the Mayan artists." The central meeting in which the five countries that compose the Mayan world will participate in will take place this coming October 3-6.

Lilia Gonzalez Morenos, director of the Funds for the Indigenous Culture, serving as the liaison between the Central American and Mexican organizations, stated that the financing of this meeting is being covered by international groups and the INI. She added that the Mayan generals of Quintana Roo showed an interest in planning such a meeting since last year, so the National Indigenous Institute followed their lead, and ever since initiated the preparations.

In Guatemala, the organizer is Rolando Noel Delgado, director of the Mayan Language Academy. Also participating in the summit are Mayan writers associations, the United Farmers Committee, the Indigenous Organizer Kapichel Committee, The Council for Mayan Women of Guatemala, the Council for Mayan Organizations of Guatemala, The National Council for the Displaced of Guatemala, and the National Coordination of the Widows of Guatemala.

From Honduras, the Integral Pro-Development of the Moskitia Committee and the Confederation of the Indigenous People of Honduras will be present. From El Salvador, the Salvadorean Indigenous National Association will be present. According to Gonzalez Moreno, named by the INI to coordinate the meeting,a declaration will be given by the conclusion of the meeting, and a book, capturing the thoughts of these great Mayan people, will be published as a testimony to this encounter.

For Mr. Marcelino Chi, Mayan general of the Tepix, this will be an opportunity to exchange experiences with his brothers and sisters from the other countries that will be present at the summit. "We haven't been able to realize such a meeting due to its expenses, but now we have this occasion to take advantage of."

What do you think about the declaration that will be made against the PPP?

"I say it's a good idea because this meeting is being carried out for our benefit."

Does the plan put your environment at risk?

"With the developments everything will be terminated, and then we will not be able to sow the crops. This is what I believe we must protect. We don't understand this plan of which you asked me about."

The Mayan organizations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize are coordinated with those existing in the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo in order to bring about this meeting. They have been supported by the INI, which processes the immigration procedures based on pacts existing between these countries. The meeting intends to unite more than 10,000 Indians into the communities of Tihosuco, Tepix, Tixcacal Guardia, and the head municipality, considered the heart of the Mayan zone, where priests, traditional judges, and generals exchange experiences and reaffirm their brotherhood. During the summit they will also formulate a cultural front to face off the challenges brought on as consequences of the PPP for the indigenous people of these five countries, and to counteract the policies that the governments are imposing on them and leaving them at a disadvantage, says Carlos Zaldivar Alvarado, the INI delegate at Quintana Roo.

Zaldivar Alvarado explains that it is clear to the Mayans of Quintana Roo the risks that their brothers and sisters from the countries that comprise the Mayan worlds and those involved in the PPP face. He added that they will provide stories of bad experiences they've encountered with tourist exploitation, primarily of their culture, without receiving anything in return. "For the Mayans it's a joke that quartermaster generals that clean toilets in the tourist centers wearing the clothing of generals. Such is the case in Xcaret, where they exploit not only the Mayan culture, but all the ethnic groups of the country," adds the INI delegate.

The local deputy Rafael Esquivel Lemus sees history repeating itself where the decendants of the Mayans who fought in the caste wars and worked as carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths, and butlers in the haciendas. "Today the indigenous Mayans are still being exploited and are still undertaking the same jobs. Except that instead of working in the haciendas, they're working at the tourist centers, where the principal capital is the foreigner."

The legislator of the PRD considers that at the federal level there needs to be legislation that protects the rights of the author of indigenous arts, since their art is being exploited by the big enterprises, who leave nothing in exchange for the true creators of the crafts. "It's enough just to look at the entrance of Tulum, invaded by crafts coming from other states and countries. In many cases the works of arts are pirated, and meanwhile, the local artisans don't have space for their own work."

Translated from Spanish by Gene Ventura on January 16, 2002.