PBI-Mexico accompanied PODER notes Canadian energy companies in report opposed to Mayan Train megaproject

On January 11, Peace Brigades International-Mexico posted: “In this report, the newspaper El País returns to the #ElNegocioDelTrenMaya (Mayan Train Business) investigation into the indigenous fight against the Mayan Train by the NGO PODER.”

The non-governmental organization Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER) is a member of the Focal Group on Business and Human Rights (Focal Group) that PBI-Mexico has accompanied since 2015.

El Pais reports: “The railway will travel 1,500 kilometers through the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo, but the project is much more than a passenger train. It is estimated that 70% of revenues result from freight transport, largely from fuels (to service the six pipelines in the southeast of the country) and products from the region’s thriving agribusiness, such as soybeans or pigs.”

In November 2020, PODER published The train of the elites that lists the companies and energy projects that would benefit from this megaproject.

As noted in El Pais, this report highlights (on page 34): “The main source of income for the Mayan Train will be the transportation of fuels, it seems clear that the Mayan Train will function as a platform infrastructure for the energy sector.”

It then notes: “If this is consolidated, the construction of the train will favor extractive energy projects in the region that have led to environmental and social conflicts and are largely owned by companies with Spanish, Canadian and US capital.”

The charts above from the report notes Vancouver-based Renaissance Oil Corp. and the Regina-based provincial Crown corporation Sask Energy Incorporated.

It is not clear if any other Canadian companies are involved in this megaproject, but EFE and Milenio have reported that several had expressed interest in it.

Those entities include: the Montreal-based train manufacturer Bombardier Inc.; the Quebec City-based pension fund La Caisse dé depot et placement du Québec; and the Toronto-based Canadian bank Scotiabank.

In July 2019, Scotiabank denied a media report that it had withdrawn from the project and stated: “[Scotiabank] carefully analyzes the opportunities in public and private projects that are presented exclusively according to business criteria. This process in the project in question continues its course.”

Many organizations have signed this open letter that states the consultation of Indigenous peoples on this megaproject did not meet international standards.

Among the groups that signed that letter are PBI-Mexico accompanied Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra y Agua Morelos, Puebla y Tlaxcala; Casa del Migrante Saltillo; Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos “Fray Juan de Larios”, A.C.; Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC); Familia Pasta de Conchos; Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña, Tlachinollan, A. C.; and Comité Cerezo.

The Mayan Train megaproject is expected to be completed by October 2022.