Yucatan-Quintana Roo Border Dispute Reopened by Supreme Court

Mérida, Mexico — The constitutional controversy that Yucatán initiated against Quintana Roo over the definition of their territorial boundaries has entered a new phase within Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) after six years of litigation.

The full bench of the high court has assigned the case to Minister María Estela Ríos González as part of a redistribution of matters following the court's recent integration. Until now, the file had not been resolved by previous ministers.

The head of the Legal Counsel for the Government of Yucatán, Gaspar Alemañy Ortiz, explained that the procedure is currently in the stage of arguments and that a draft resolution has not yet been made public.

"In this legal proceeding, there are three positions because it is not only Yucatán and Quintana Roo, but also Campeche. The border conflict also includes that state. We have already had meetings with Governors Mara Lezama and Layda Sansores, as well as with Governor Joaquín Díaz Mena, to seek a joint understanding," he stated.

The root of the problem dates back to 1996 when Campeche created the municipality of Calakmul. This action altered the application of the original 1974 decree that gave rise to the state of Quintana Roo, which recognized the boundaries established in the 1902 decree that created the federal territory.

Subsequently, in 2019, Quintana Roo reformed its state constitution to clarify its boundaries in accordance with that 1902 decree. This move generated dissatisfaction in Yucatán, which considered municipalities such as Chemax, Chichimilá, Tixcacalcupul, Peto, Tzucacab, and Tekax to be affected.

Faced with this situation, in June of that same year, the Government of Yucatán presented the constitutional controversy before the SCJN, defending its interpretation of the territorial limits.

No Immediate Resolution

The legal counsel specified that the designation of Minister Ríos González as the case's rapporteur does not mean a resolution will be issued in the short term.

"We are still in the arguments stage. There is no public draft resolution. Even if the new rapporteur decides to begin studying it, she may or may not agree with what had previously been considered. This does not mean the matter will be resolved soon," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the governments of Yucatán, Quintana Roo, and Campeche are maintaining a channel of political dialogue parallel to the litigation, in search of a consensual solution to the border dispute.