Yucatán News – Indigenous Mayan families in southeastern Mexico say they still face widespread land dispossession more than 170 years after the Caste War began. The situation highlights the ongoing problem of Mayan land dispossession in Yucatán. Despite court orders and documentary proof, local ejidatarios struggle to reclaim territory they have farmed for generations.
178 Years of Mayan Land Dispossession
In Sahcabá, 371 farmers filed suit seven years ago against businessmen who claim rights to 120 hectares of land. Simón Ku Ek, former commissioner of Sahcabá Santos, insists the disputed plots belong to his community. “This July marks 178 years since our Mayan ancestors rebelled, and we continue to suffer land theft due to the ongoing Mayan land dispossession issues in Yucatán,” he said. Although the Agrarian Unitary Court ruled in favor of the ejidatarios, the defendants obtained an injunction that bars any planting on the contested land.
Airport Expropriation Dispute
Just south in Mérida, 340 members of the Cinco Colonias ejido have waited five years to reclaim 18 hectares they say were wrongly taken reflecting a pattern of Mayan land dispossession Yucatán faces. Faustino Mena Crespo, commissioner of Cinco Colonias, noted that 204 hectares were expropriated to build Mérida International Airport with no adequate compensation. Community leaders recently handed copies of their complaint to Governor Joaquín Díaz Mena, and they hope President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration will step in.
Speculation and Legal Loopholes
Attorney Luis Antonio López, who handles agrarian cases across the Peninsula, reports dozens of new land‑theft complaints each year in communities such as Conkal and Ucú, which is symptomatic of the broader Mayan land dispossession in Yucatán. He warns that speculators exploit gaps in the Agrarian Law and prey on farmers’ limited legal knowledge. “Unscrupulous buyers pay a few thousand pesos for vast tracts of land and then resell them at triple the price,” he said. López urges faster enforcement of court decisions and tighter oversight of land sales to protect indigenous holdings. Mayan land dispossession reflects these ongoing challenges.
Calls for Government Action
Local leaders are pressing both state and federal authorities to enforce existing rulings. They blame the Yucatán Housing Institute (IVEY) for granting deeds in neighborhoods built atop their lands and plan to renew their petitions when President Sheinbaum visits Yucatán this month. “Our families depend on these fields for food and income,” Ku Ek said. “We cannot wait any longer for justice.” Indeed, the fight against Mayan land dispossession is crucial for their livelihoods.
Echoes of the Caste War
The roots of this dispute trace back to July 1847, when Maya rebels rose against Creole and mestizo elites over land abuses. Though the Caste War ended in 1901, land conflicts like the contemporary Mayan land dispossession Yucatán has dealt with have endured in courts rather than on battlefields. Today’s Mayan farmers see their struggle as a continuation of that historic fight—this time for legal recognition and enforcement rather than open revolt.
As planting seasons pass and deadlines slip by, ejidatarios worry that stalled rulings will become permanent losses. Their renewed campaign combines legal action, political appeals, and public pressure—all aimed at securing ancestral lands and safeguarding their community’s future amidst the challenge of Mayan land dispossession.
Yucatán, Mayan land rights, Agrarian courts, Land dispossession, Sahcabá, Cinco Colonias
