Massive Land Theft in Yucatán Involves Officials

Yucatán, Mexico — At least 11,000 hectares of national land in Yucatán have ended up in private hands through document forgery, alteration of official records, and with the probable complicity of state officials.

Latinus documented the illegal appropriation of at least 24 national mega plots, which occurred between the governments of then-PRI member Ivonne Ortega (2007-2012), now a deputy for Movimiento Ciudadano, and Rolando Zapata, currently a senator for the PRI (2012-2018).

In some cases, the mega plots were registered in the names of relatives of state officials. After being registered under private names, the lands multiplied in cost between one sale and another, reaching a value of 160 million pesos in one of the documented cases.