2023-11-13 02:53:30
Playa del Carmen, Q. Roo.- President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s warning to expropriate the land of Calicalocated south of Playa del Carmen, has already given way to the procedure for declaring a protected natural area for the area of exploitation of stone material belonging to the subsidiary of Vulcan Materials Company, of American origin.
The Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) issued the consultation notice of the study justifying the issuance of the decree for the declaration of a protected natural area of flora and fauna called “Leona Vicario”, located in the municipalities of Cozumel and Solidaridad, just on the grounds of Calica.
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The extension of the protected natural area proposed by the federal government is 2,387 hectares, which would cover the entire property of the transnational company, which totals about 1,500 hectares.
On these lands he carried out for more than three decades, using explosive methods, the extraction of limestone for shipment to the United States in ships.
Obrador had warned, after the closures he carried out against the company in 2022, that if they did not accept the government’s offer of six thousand 500 million pesos for their land, he would seek to declare the place as a protected natural area.
Last October, Vulcan Materials Company announced that it rejected the claims of the federal executive and requested the US ambassador Ken Salazar to defend the interests of the transnational company on Mexican soil.
With the notice published last Wednesday in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) by Semarnat, those interested in giving their opinion on the justifying technical study will have 30 calendar days to do so.
After this, the executive will have free rein to issue the decree that will entail an expropriation of this company’s land.
A source from Vulcan Materials Company announced that for now the company’s executives are analyzing the study prepared by specialists from the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp), so they would not give a position immediately.
Currently, Calica faces various closures that prevent it from continuing with the extraction of limestone south of Playa del Carmen, a material valued in the United States for construction.
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At the same time, the commercial company faces civil lawsuits for damage to the environment and health that have been filed by citizens of the surrounding communities located in Playa del Carmen.
But Calica also maintains claims for protection against various acts of authority issued mainly by the federal government, although so far no suspension has been achieved within the guarantee trials, according to the courts consulted.
Furthermore, its greatest claim focuses on the lawsuit it maintains against the Mexican State that is resolved in the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Cidi), under the rules of the defunct North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). .
The company is asking the Mexican government for more than $1.5 billion in damages caused by the closures.
With this search for a declaration of a protected natural area and eventual expropriation of its lands, it is possible that Calica will begin new legal proceedings against the Mexican government in the following days.
HOW THE CONFLICT STARTED
Calizas Industriales del Carmen, the commercial company that represents Calica, was granted a concession to exploit limestone rock in 1986 on the La Rosita property, without determining the validity or volume of extraction, according to Semarnat. All this about 10 kilometers south of Playa del Carmen.
In 1996, it obtained an authorization that was extended to two more properties: El Corchalito and La Adelita, a group of 1,251 hectares.
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On November 30, 2000, one day before the end of Ernesto Zedillo’s administration, it was given a third concession for 20 years, which ended in 2020.
In 2018, months before the end of Enrique Peña Nieto’s mandate, the first closure was carried out against Calica. On that occasion, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (Profepa) took measures on the El Corchalito and La Adelita properties, because it was detected that the company was exploiting stone material excessively.
At the beginning of López Obrador’s administration, Calica began to exploit only the La Rosita property, while negotiating an extension of its concession, which never happened. At the same time, it initiated the lawsuit against Mexico in the ICSID for 1,500 million dollars, after the closures carried out.
At the beginning of 2022, Andrés Manuel López Obrador spoke openly about the case for the first time and announced that he had gotten Calica to stop the extraction of stone material voluntarily.
In May of that year, during one of the aerial inspections north of Quintana Roo to verify the work of the Mayan Train, it was detected that the company was continuing to extract and send limestone to the United States.
According to López Obrador, he had broken the agreement.
Days later, Navy troops took over the Calica facilities to allow Profepa inspectors to carry out the verification and closure of the last exploited property: La Rosita.
Since then, in morning conferences the president has issued various warnings to the company about the refusal to renew their permits. Last March the Navy took over the facilities again, because Cemex could not unload cement through the port of Punta Venado, facilities that Calica built.
The material was sent to the Mayan Train, adjacent to the transnational company’s land.
Calica has complained repeatedly in the written submissions of the lawsuit before the ICSID that he suffers constant attacks from President Andrés Manuel López since his morning conferences. Initially, ICSID ordered the president to stop talking about the issue while the litigation continues, according to court documents.
The president complied for a while, but then continued to raise the issue.
On October 20, López Obrador warned that he will not conclude his government without having declared the Calica lands as a protected natural area.
With Process information
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