Activists Urge CFE to Remove Power Lines So Playa del Carmen’s ‘Las Torres’ Settlements Can Be Regularized

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Activists in the informal settlement zone known as “Las Torres” have asked Mexico’s federal government to remove CFE high-tension power lines from the area, a step they say is needed to begin regularizing more than 13 settlements.

Quetzal Chan González, a member of the collective that filed a lawsuit against the quarry company Calica in 2022 — a case that remains unresolved — said the request has already been raised twice at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily morning press conference.

In Cancún, he said, high-tension towers have already begun to be dismantled after they were swallowed by the city’s urban sprawl. The group wants the same done in Playa del Carmen so residents can have legal certainty over the land.

Settlements Have Grown

The original occupation of the CFE (Federal Electricity Commission) right-of-way has expanded and now covers 13 settlements with more than 2,000 residents, Chan González said.

The collective has also asked authorities to formalize the Conafe community school operating in the area, which he said requires significant attention.

The Calica Dispute

On the dispute with Calica, Chan González welcomed the ruling by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which awarded the company just 1% of the compensation it had sought from the Mexican government.

He recalled that the company’s mining concession runs until 2037, even though the land now sits inside a Natural Protected Area. Calica personnel remain on the site, he said, but are now carrying out environmental restoration work.

Chan González is one of the signatories of the collective lawsuit against Calica over environmental damage allegedly caused to nearby Indigenous communities. That litigation has yet to be resolved.