Cancún Mayor’s Family in Land Dispute with Fishermen

Quintana Roo, Mexico — Members of the Kukulcán Tourist Services Cooperative Society, which operates the Kukulcán Restaurant in Puerto Juárez, are engaged in a protracted legal battle against the family of Cancún Mayor Ana Patricia Peralta de la Peña. The dispute centers on federally owned land for which the cooperative holds a longstanding concession, authorized by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT).

The cooperative alleges that the mayor's family is seeking to dispossess them of the property through legal actions, threatening the primary livelihood of the fishing families involved.

Details of the Dispute

The cooperative states it has legally occupied and used the land for over twenty-five years, paying all required fees to federal authorities. It holds a concession granted by SEMARNAT in 2010 for the federal maritime zone.

The conflict arises from a subsequent concession granted by SEMARNAT in 2012 to the company De la Peña Vara y Asociados, S.A. de C.V., which included the area already granted to the fishermen. This company, now named OPERADORA NEW LIFE, S.A. de C.V., is represented by Ana Patricia De la Peña Sánchez, the mother of Mayor Ana Patricia Peralta de la Peña. The company has filed a criminal complaint accusing the cooperative of property dispossession.

The fishermen assert the accusation is false, as the mayor's family has never been in possession of the property where their restaurant operates. They contend the error lies with the federal government for issuing overlapping concessions and that this error benefits the mayor's family.

Political Dimensions and Community Allegations

The article identifies Mayor Ana Patricia Peralta de la Peña as an activist from the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM) who seeks to become governor of Quintana Roo through the MORENA vote. It accuses her of using her political and economic influence within the Quintana Roo State Attorney General's Office and the State Judiciary to advance her family's interests.

Community members in Puerto Juárez recall a previous incident where land designated by education authorities for a high school was never developed. They claim Diego de la Peña, the maternal grandfather of the current mayor and a pioneering Cancún hotelier, opposed the project and ultimately retained possession of that land, as well as properties belonging to diver Ramón Bravo.

Seeking Government Intervention

On Tuesday, March 10, members of the cooperative's board traveled to the Mayan community of X-Pichil for a public hearing led by Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama Espinoza. They were not formally received on the agenda, but one member managed to personally hand the governor a document reiterating their demand for intervention.

At the same hearing, the delegation was attended to by the Secretary General of the Government of Quintana Roo, María Cristina Torres. Also present was prosecutor Estela Labastida, representing the State Attorney General's Office. Labastida informed the cooperative that the Attorney General, Raciel López Salazar, had communicated that the Specialized Prosecutor for Property Crimes in Cancún would inform them by the following Monday whether criminal action would be taken in the investigation file prompted by the complaint from the mayor's family company.

Legal and Institutional Actions

The cooperative has filed formal complaints with the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the State Human Rights Commission. These complaints identify the following as responsible authorities for alleged human rights irregularities: Guillermo Domínguez Espinoza, head of the Property Crimes Unit of the State Attorney General's Office; Raciel López Salazar, head of the State Attorney General's Office; Mayor Ana Patricia Peralta De la Peña; and the Criminal Court of Control in Cancún.

The group has also announced it is considering approaching international organizations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The cooperative's struggle has garnered solidarity from other fishing groups. At least twenty cooperative members have joined, including Rodolfo Gabourel, president of the Nautical Cooperative in Cancun, and the Regional Federation of Tourist Cooperative Societies of Quintana Roo, represented by its president José Isabel Montesinos Brito.

Current Legal Status

The article notes that a state judge previously ordered the seizure of the restaurant property at the request of companies represented by the mayor's mother. In response to the cooperative's earlier request for gubernatorial intervention, Secretary María Cristina Torres Gómez sent letters to both the State Attorney General's Office and the Superior Court of Justice requesting reports on the case.

The presiding magistrate of the Superior Court of Justice, Heyden José Cebada Rivas, was asked to provide a report on the judicial control file.

While the cooperative's lawyer has explained perceived inconsistencies in the investigation file to the Special Prosecutor, the article states the procedural situation remains stagnant. It concludes that, through omission, the ministerial and judicial authorities of Quintana Roo continue to side with the family of the mayor of Cancún.