Court Dismisses Injunction Against Mexican Army Retreat Construction in Bacalar

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — A federal court dismissed an injunction against the construction of a Mexican Army retreat on the shores of Bacalar lagoon, clearing the way for the nearly completed project.

The First District Court dismissed the injunction case 271/2025, which was filed by the civil associations Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (Dmas) and Common Justice Project (Projuc) against the construction of a retreat for the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena). Judge Eugenia Maritza Valencia Hernández ruled the case moot, though her notification did not specify the reasoning.

The dismissal likely stems from a previous ruling that revoked a permanent suspension against the construction, on grounds that Dmas lacked legitimate interest to file the lawsuit because it is not based in Bacalar and did not prove it represented local residents.

The military retreat is almost finished. After suspensions were lifted in November, the Mexican Army resumed construction in late 2025, and workers were pouring the roof around the time of the court’s decision.

The court dismissed the case despite pending an environmental impact assessment. It had struggled to find an expert in Chetumal and had to seek one from another part of the state, but the assessment was not completed because the court disagreed with the fees and requested clarifications. While awaiting those, the judge closed the case on February 6.

The outcome was expected, as the First District Court applied the same restrictive criteria used by the First Collegiate Circuit Court to revoke the permanent suspension that had halted construction since June 2025. In that November 2025 ruling, the court argued the environmental group lacked legitimate interest because it was not domiciled in Bacalar and did not demonstrate representation of community members.

This is the second injunction to fail in stopping the project. The first, filed by Bacalar citizens, was withdrawn shortly after submission. One injunction remains, filed by children and adolescents from Bacalar, but a provisional suspension was revoked after they were denied a permanent one. With federal public defense assistance, the minors have filed a review appeal seeking a permanent suspension to keep their case alive and avoid the same fate as Dmas’s.