Mexico’s Defense Ministry Built National Guard Housing in Chetumal Without Environmental Permit

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — Mexico’s Defense Ministry (Sedena) once again built a National Guard housing complex in the state capital without obtaining the environmental permit required to clear the forested land, according to federal records and officials involved in the project.

Brig. Gen. Sergio López Acosta, the National Guard’s state coordinator, and Gov. Mara Lezama Espinosa inaugurated the military housing unit Monday, Aug. 31. The complex includes 60 apartments and one house and is designed to house 61 families.

In late July, the Environment and Natural Resources Ministry, known as Semarnat, said it had received the project’s land-use change application on June 11, 2025. The application was filed under the Unified Forest Land-Use Change Procedure, category B-Particular, to house National Guard members and their families. Semarnat closed its review on Aug. 13, but a final ruling is still being prepared and could be negative because construction was carried out before authorization was granted.

To build the complex, Sedena cleared more than 45,000 square meters of medium-height forest on a 2.99-hectare site. About 2.54 hectares are occupied by buildings and facilities, including three residential buildings with 20 apartments each, a house, three guard booths, a multi-use court, administrative areas, a thatched palapa, a swimming pool, a cistern, an elevated tank, common areas, children’s play and sports areas, social gathering spaces, parking, roadways and a wastewater treatment plant.

The property is on Álvaro Obregón Avenue in Colonia Santa Isabel, near Insurgentes Avenue, beside the Maya Train workshops and the National Guard barracks used by the Fourth Company of the Second Southeast Railway Security Battalion.

This is not the first time Sedena has proceeded without Semarnat’s approval. The National Guard barracks built in Chetumal to monitor the Maya Train was also constructed before the environmental permit was issued, and the ministry later denied that permit. Officials expect the housing complex could face the same outcome.

At Monday’s ceremony, López Acosta said the housing complex would be a home for National Guard personnel and their families and was part of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s commitment to provide dignified spaces for public security forces.

Despite the missing permits, the general said the project included environmental measures such as a wastewater treatment plant and automatic lighting to reduce electricity consumption. The complex also features a pool with a hot tub, two palapas and two grills.

Also attending the inauguration were Vice Adm. José Gerardo Valcárcel del Barrio, commander of the 11th Naval Zone; state Attorney General Raciel López Salazar; state lawmaker Saulo Aguilar Bernés, representing the 18th Legislature; Government Secretary Cristina Torres Gómez; Citizen Security Secretary Julio César Gómez Torres; National Guard Col. Abelardo Sánchez Olivares; and Magistrate Ana Mercedes Castillo Carvajal, representing the Superior Court of Justice.