according to their reasoning, "now if it would be worth all the scandal they make" (although maybe it is too late). It should be reminded that even with the community uprising against the study that had only been done just because, the instance that he directs now, in 2019 he resumed the study to promote the PNA from the state government, through IBANQROO, and depends on the Ministry of the Environment, whose Secretary was, before he was dismissed for accusations of corruption, Alfredo Arellano Guillermo, former Regional Director of CONANP, where he also has pending allegations of corruption and now led by Efrain Villanueva Arcos, founding partner of Amigos de Sian Ka'an and recognized as its operational arm in the south of the state of Quintana Roo. RdB: Throughout the preparation of this study, the consultants held multiple interviews and workshops with representatives of the same ejidos that today oppose the establishment of the area. It may not have been a sufficient consultation for this very preliminary stage of the project. But, and here distrust and suspicion rear their ugly head, it is strange that suddenly these same ejido groups are so reluctant to conservation, that in no way harms them, nor does it strip them of their lands, nor does it prevent them from appropriating the natural resources and environmental services that are in them. We are not going to wear ourselves out trying to explain the difference between participatory planning and simulated consultation, already explained above. RdB: Those who can be affected are the owners and possessors of land on the margins of the lagoon, some of whom have speculatively opted for the detonation of a conventional tourist development, which allows them to sell their land at juicy prices, for the establishment of infrastructure for tourism. Perhaps they perceive the establishment of a conservation project as an element that subtracts surplus value from their real estate. Could it be then that there are "hands that rock the cradle" out there, from darkness and clandestineness? I wouldn't be surprised. According to RdB, they are the individuals who want a Cancun in the Lagoon and who manipulate the other social actors, because as they continue to insist, 181
ON BACALAR'S DEFENSE. COLLOQUIAL VERSION
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