Cancún, QRoo.- Even without opening to the public, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) is preparing the expropriation of a total of 113 hectares from the Bacalar ejido to continue with the exploration of the archaeological site of Ichkabal.
To carry it out, the INAH submitted a request for resources to the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) through the portfolio of investment projects, where the technical sheet states that the amount requested for the demarcation and expropriation of the land It is 74.5 million pesos.
According to the details of the project, there are at least three places and various large structures pending explorationwhich forces the land to be expropriated “to proceed without obstacles with the studies of the area.”
The areas to explore are described as follows:
“The investigations that have been carried out within the Ichkabal Archaeological Zone so far reveal various monumental structures and constructions of great magnitude such as the Main Plaza that has an expanse of open space 370 meters from south to north and variable width, it covers an approximate area of 5 hectares.
“The west side is occupied by the eastern slopes of the platform of the complex of Structure 1 and Structure 2. To the south it is delimited by Aguada Ayin. On the north side structures 10, 11 and 12 are located, while The eastern side is occupied by the monumental architectural complexes corresponding to structures 4 and 5.
“Structures 6 and 7 close the space between the southwest corner of the Structure 5 complex and the northeast corner of Aguada Ayin. Finally, the northeast corner reaches the road that connects to El Cedral, 5.5 kilometers to the east.
Verbatim, the document states that “once you have ownership of the land, you can carry out research and exploration with the necessary resources to unearth and clear each mound, thereby allowing you to have a description of each structuresince, as we have mentioned, the Ichkabal Archaeological Site is a virgin place, which is in the exploration and research phase.”
They add that the ejidal property “makes it impossible in some way to have full access to carry out archaeological rescue, protection, restoration and research work.”
Opening delay
Opening this site to visitors has been postponed for at least seven years, Since the administration of former governor Carlos Joaquín González, negotiations with the ejidatarios of Bacalar have failed, who since then refused to sell the land and demanded, instead, an income scheme for the tourist exploitation of the site, in addition to having a space within the archaeological zone for the sale of crafts
Already under the administration of Governor Mara Lezama an agreement was announced with the ejidatariosregarding which the terms have not been made known, but it has been assured that it would allow the opening of the archaeological zone to the public, however this has been delayed on several occasions.
The last opening date announced by Governor Mara Lezama was for “the first days of 2025”, after it was not achieved in September 2024, before the conclusion of the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, after it was not reached an agreement with the ejidatarios.
The request for resources made by the INAH before Hazando with code 78536 states that expropriation by agreement is the legal instrument through which commitments can be agreed with individuals to carry out the work of protection and conservation of the archaeological remains within the Zones and with this the community is part of said work.
“However, the signing of an instrument of this type is in good faith of the people who make up the Ejido, since the demands that they sometimes request for its signature are outside the alternatives that the INAH can offer, such as a percentage of the entrance and access cost that sometimes amounts to 80 percent, allowing constructions, workplaces, putting up spectacular signs, among other things.
“In this sense, a collaboration agreement is left to the good faith of the agrarian nucleus who can respect or not what is established in said agreement, for this reason it is only a more coercive declarative form of oblige communities to respect archaeological remainswhich means that the Archaeological Zone continues to remain vulnerable for destruction and looting,” the document reads.
