Santa Maria Chi
Santa María Chí has approximately 500 inhabitants, while mega-pork farms can hold more than 50,000 animals. The community started feeling the negative impacts when the farm went from small to huge. They could no longer drink the water or use it in general, noting an unbearable stench.
The farm burned pig manure and people developed respiratory illnesses, including bronchitis. The asthma of children suffering from this disease worsened. The Ministry of Health (in Mérida), said that it was not within its jurisdiction to address the situation after an official complaint was submitted. Vegetation around the mega-farm dried up while the contaminated water damaged the community’s ‘milpa’ (model for traditional agriculture in Mesoamerica).
Local residents set up a camp in May 2023 to protest against the operation of the mega-farm, led by Wilberth Nahuat Puc, the town's Mayan commissioner. In response, the families, owners of the local Kekén company, filed two lawsuits against Wilberth Nahuat Puc, accusing him of alleged unlawful deprivation of liberty and kidnapping. He was sentenced to a 300-meter distance restriction for several months, but his house is located just over 45 meters from the mega farm.
The legal proceedings against Wilberth Nahuat Puc have been ongoing for more than two years. The commissioner has already faced one hearing but the process has been suspended several times and remains open. After two years of this struggle, the mega-farm was permanently closed. However, the animals haven’t been removed yet.
This is a rare victory for communities demanding that their right to an environment free of pollution be respected. However, there are concerns that the pigs could be relocated to another farm owned by the same families, and in the Cuxtal Ecological Reserve.