Mexican Court Orders Telmex to Pay $15 Million for Illegal Land Occupation

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — A Mexican court has ordered telecommunications giant Telmex to pay nearly 15 million pesos (approximately $15 million) for illegally occupying an ejido, or communal land, in southern Quintana Roo.

The ruling, issued by the Tribunal Unitario Agrario (Agrarian Unitary Court) District 44 in Chetumal, requires Telmex to pay 14,996,277.63 pesos to the Aarón Merino Fernández ejido in Bacalar municipality. The payment covers unpaid rents for the illegal occupation of a 2,392.186-square-meter plot along the Bacalar-Chetumal highway at kilometer 28.

The legal dispute began in 2011 when the ejido’s leadership sued Telmex for using the land without authorization from the General Assembly of Ejidatarios. After various legal proceedings, a 2013 ruling ordered the land returned to the ejido, but left the amount of compensation for lost rents undetermined.

The recent decision resolves that outstanding issue. Telmex now has 10 business days to make the payment voluntarily. If it fails to do so, authorities will enforce the ruling under the Federal Code of Civil Procedures.

The court also addressed previously seized assets valued at 5,040,539.50 pesos, ordering the judicial depository to return that amount to Telmex. Additionally, the ejido must return 180,696 pesos that had been deposited earlier.

The ruling implements guidelines established by the Second Collegiate Court of the Twenty-Seventh Circuit and the First District Court in Quintana Roo, concluding the judicial process related to the defense of the ejido’s property rights.