Environmental Activists Invite Salma Hayek to See Maya Train Damage in Yucatan

Mexico City — Environmental activists have invited actress Salma Hayek to visit the Yucatan Peninsula to witness the ecological damage they say is being caused by the controversial Maya Train project. The invitation follows Hayek’s public praise for President Claudia Sheinbaum’s support of the Mexican film industry.

Hayek, who was recently seen in Tulum, Quintana Roo, and Veracruz reportedly filming, attended a press conference with Sheinbaum on Sunday, February 15, where she commended the president. “Maybe what we didn’t have was this president,” Hayek said, according to reports.

The actress’s comments drew swift criticism from activists and commentators who accused her of evaluating Mexico’s situation from a position of privilege while ignoring pressing national issues.

In a post on the social media platform X, environmental activist and water quality consultant Guillermo D’Christy extended the invitation on behalf of the organization Selvame del Tren.

“Dear Salma, from @SelvameMX we want to invite you to see the terrible damage caused in Quintana Roo and the Yucatan Peninsula by the illegal works of the so-called Maya Train and the real estate speculation that is finishing off our jungle and contaminating our water,” D’Christy wrote. “Thank you for promoting our country, but let’s do it from knowledge and responsibility.”

D’Christy, a diver and speleologist who is also a member of the citizen science group Cenotes Urbanos, recently documented with Selvame del Tren that columns for the Maya Train that pierce cenotes—natural sinkholes—are already cracking. The group warned this causes “damage that extends without remedy” and creates a risk of collapse.

The invitation was part of a broader wave of online criticism directed at Hayek. Political analyst Denise Dresser called Hayek’s support for Sheinbaum an “unnecessary endorsement, given by someone who, from a distance, is unaware of the country’s problems.”

“You have to be more careful with how and in whose name prestige is used,” Dresser added. “I wish Salma Hayek had read the latest Human Rights Watch report on Mexico.”

Lawyer Sandra Karina Ibarra Carbajal also challenged Hayek, inviting her to visit public hospitals, migrant stations, common graves, and to accompany mothers searching for missing relatives. “You are right about one thing… we haven’t had a ruler like this in a long time, complicit in a narco-government,” Ibarra wrote.

Other social media users echoed the sentiment, suggesting Hayek was out of touch with the security and human rights crises facing many Mexicans.