Maya Dissidents Challenge Council Over Cultural Heritage Sales

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — A group of Maya dissidents has officially requested the annulment of the Grand Maya Council, citing probable acts of corruption in the sale of the indigenous people’s cultural heritage to major ecotourism chains in the state.

The legal dispute was initiated in Mexico City through the filing of an injunction seeking to invalidate various articles of the Law of Cultural Rights and Indigenous Organization of the State of Quintana Roo, which grants representation powers to this collegiate body headed by Simón Caamal. Caamal is accused of allegedly benefiting from a legal process of cultural appropriation that was cunningly initiated against Xcaret and later withdrawn.

Previously the Grand Maya Council initiated a lawsuit against Xcaret for cultural appropriation of various expressions of the indigenous people; however, after allegedly receiving economic benefits, they withdrew, although the Mexican state continued with the legal process ex officio, which has attracted the attention of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.

In case file 1512/2025 of indirect injunction being resolved by the Sixteenth District Court of Mexico City, it states that the group of Maya dissidents requests the annulment of various articles to dissolve the Grand Maya Council due to multiple human rights violations committed against its own members.

Even in this lawsuit, the name of Xcaret has already emerged as an interested third party for being benefited by the actions of the Grand Maya Council.

“Judicial clerk reports that when attempting to carry out notification to the interested third parties EXPERIENCIAS XCARET PARQUES, SOCIEDAD ANÓNIMA PROMOTORA DE INVERSIÓN DE CAPITAL VARIABLE [1], EXPERIENCIAS XCARET WEB, SOCIEDAD ANÓNIMA PROMOTORA DE INVERSIÓN DE CAPITAL VARIABLE [2] and GRUPO XCARET THROUGH EXPERIENCIAS XCARET PARQUES, SOCIEDAD ANÓNIMA PROMOTORA DE INVERSIÓN DE CAPITAL VARIABLE” (sic), reads a judicial agreement from case file 1512/2025 of indirect injunction.

The constitutional hearing is scheduled for February 17, which is expected to provide a clearer picture regarding the resolution of this case.