Will Crique Sarco Be Model for Maya Communal Lands?

In August, the Maya village of Crique Sarco was the first to be entered in the Maya Land Registry. A geographical map created over the course of five years delineated its boundaries among several other buffer communities that fringe the Sarstoon Temash National Park. At the time, the Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission appeared on board with the idea even as it was completing its own village consultations, although it was not officially a part of the process. But today, Chairwoman Lisel Alamilla seemed to express more skepticism about the worth of the registry.

Lisel Alamilla

Lisel Alamilla, Chair, Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission

“We don’t know what lands they included – did they include just farm lands? What is it that they included and how did they go about it? And so it’s not to say that this is not – I am sure we will reference that and look at that process when we get to that point, but I can’t say that we agree with what SATIIM did and the process that they applied.”