Cholula towns block highway and demand government halt urbanization of their lands

PUEBLA, Pue., (apro).- Representatives of organizations and towns in Cholula have blocked the Puebla-Atlixco federal highway, demanding a halt to the "wild" real estate development that has been advancing on their lands for more than three decades, particularly by Grupo Proyecta, developer of Lomas de Angelópolis.

In a statement prior to this protest, the indigenous communities warned that the expansion of the so-called Puebla Real Estate Cartel puts their culture and ancient way of life at risk of disappearing, given that Cholula is considered the oldest town in America, having been inhabited continuously since 500 BC.

Residents of Tlaxcalancingo, Santa María Zacatepec, Nealtican, Cacalotepec, Ocoyucan, Malacatepec, Acuexcomac, San Pedro and San Andrés Cholula said that their towns have not only lost territory and water availability, but have also been contaminated by the inter-municipal garbage dump, suffer from increases in services and taxes, and see their way of life, identity, culture, and language threatened.

Meanwhile, Grupo Proyecta, owned by the Posadas Cueto brothers and Pedro Aspe Armella, former Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, has expanded across hundreds of hectares with clusters of subdivisions and is intensifying its plans to continue expanding its lands.

“For more than 30 years, Grupo Proyecta has abusively enriched itself by depriving the indigenous peoples of the Cholula region of their land, water, and their right to a healthy environment with the construction of thousands of homes and buildings that have earned it millions of dollars, destroying indigenous peoples' ancestral territories and paths, and with them, their way of life,” they denounced.

They added that these forms of dispossession have not only been perpetrated by this business group, which has been favored by all governments regardless of political party, but also by the state authorities and the municipalities of San Andrés Cholula and Santa Clara Ocoyucan, as well as by other developers.

The so-called Puebla Real Estate Cartel, they reported, has resorted to expropriation, forced purchases, increased taxes, illegal land occupation, rigged trials, closing roads and access to properties within the clusters, using public and private force, corrupting authorities, and dividing residents.

Organizations and residents developed a Territorial Ecological Planning Program and a document called "Territorial Planning and Protection Strategies for Indigenous Peoples." The latter was deemed viable by academics from Ibero Puebla, BUAP, and Udlap.

These strategies propose various measures, including designating protected areas—not subject to sale—so that villages can continue to prevail as community units.

Those participating in the road closure asserted that there is an agreement with the San Andrés City Council and the state government for their proposals to be included in the Urban Development Program, but so far this has not been fulfilled.

They explained that although Governor Alejandro Armenta has publicly criticized Grupo Proyecta, claiming that they bought land from farmers for a few pesos and then sold it for dollars, in practice he continues to favor the business group, as he promoted the change of the toll booth on the Puebla-Atlixco highway, which will allow them to increase the capital gains of their developments.

As of Thursday afternoon, residents maintained the road closure, awaiting the arrival of San Andrés Cholula Mayor Guadalupe Cuautle and representatives of the state government to San Bernardino Tlaxcalancingo to establish a dialogue table to discuss the inclusion of the strategies in the Urban Development Program.

Participating in this demonstration are organizations such as the Malacatepec Resistance Camp in Defense of Land and Water, Cholultecas United in Resistance, the Santa María Acuexcomac Water Defense Committee, the Union of Peoples and Subdivisions Against the Landfill and in Defense of Water, and the National Indigenous Congress.

Political prisoner

In a telephone interview from the San Miguel prison, Emiliano Zambrano, leader of the Malacatepec Resistance Camp in Defense of Land and Water, demanded that President Claudia Sheinbaum and Governor Alejandro Armenta pay attention to his case, claiming that he is a "political prisoner" whose complaint was fabricated on the orders of Grupo Proyecta.

Zambrano, a 58-year-old indigenous man, is the leader of the villagers who have maintained a camp for nine years, preventing the expansion of Grupo Proyecta over more than 245 hectares that encompass the La Sombra and Pando hills.

The activist explained that the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) has not approved the real estate group's project, called City Lomas, because it includes land in the Tentzo and Valsequillo state reserves.

However, he said that a few days ago, workers from that company demolished "small houses" built at the camp, and that they had previously intimidated and even attacked them with bullets.

Emiliano explained that he was accused of rape by one of his neighbors, but asserted that the case was fabricated to remove him from the struggle. Already in prison, representatives of the real estate company and the government have threatened to keep him in prison if his resistance continues.

He also accused the business group of using its economic power to "bribe" members of the movement to withdraw from the camp and betray the defense of the territory.

"I'm defenseless in prison," he said. "I ask state and federal authorities to pay close attention to me, to support me, to defend us. They say they put the poor first, but they're giving preference to the rich. We're tired of Grupo Proyecta's abuses, and the authorities are doing nothing."

It should be noted that Cholula organizations have demanded Zambrano's release, arguing that the accusations against him were fabricated and that the underlying goal is to dismantle resistance against real estate development.