Mexico: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Seized Land From Owners for Mayan Train Construction

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has claimed 1.09 million square meters or 269 acres for the Mayan Train project constriction.

Yahoo News reported that the Mexican president considered it a "matter of national security" at the end of July with several legal hurdles had been encountered by the project.

The Mayan Train railway's 1,500-kilometer line is already under construction, with the target of connecting tourist zones to one another.

The Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development would reportedly compensate land owners in line with appraisals from the Institute of Administration and Appraisals of National Assets.

Lopez Obrador's expropriation of the land was reportedly supported by Mexico's constitution, which both provided for land expropriation and asserted the priority of railways for national development.

The Mexican president has maintained that the Mayan Train railway project will be done by the end of next year.

Mayan Train Project Legal Challenges

In May, a judge in Mexico ordered the suspension of construction work on a stretch of the Mayan Train railway project until its environmental impact is determined.

BBC News reported that the ruling of the judge is a victory for a group of cave divers who expressed concerns that it would threaten underground caverns.

It was dubbed Mexico's most ambitious infrastructure project with it being worth $9.8 billion.

The railway project aims to connect the south-easter Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo.

Lopez Obrador has argued that the project will give an environmentally friendly mode of transport for both locals and tourists while also boosting development and employment in the underdeveloped region.

Critics, on the other hand, said that the Mayan train project has been "rushed" with environmental concerns that have been overridden.

In addition, environmentalists and experts warned that the heavy machinery used to build the road would cause irreparably damage to the unique cave system.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Pushing Through

In July, the Mexican government-enforced national security powers to continue the tourist train along the Caribbean coast despite threats on caves where some of the oldest human remains have been found.

Lopez Obrador is focused on finishing the Mayan Train project in the remaining two years of his term despite objections from environmentalists, cave divers, and archaeologists, according to an NBC News report.

The project was paused due to a court injunction but the Mexican government has invoked national security powers to resume the construction.

Lopez Obrador noted that the delay had been expensive, adding the decree would prevent the interests of a few from being put above the general good.

Jose Urbina Bravo, a diver who filed one of the court challenges, said that he never knew that he "lived in a country where the president could just do whatever he wants."

The cited caves were archeological sites that have been undisturbed for years.

Caves along the Caribbean coast include discoveries like Naia, which is the nearly complete skeleton of a young woman who died around 13,000 years ago.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Mexico's Multi-Billion Dollar Train Project Through Sacred Mayan Sites Resumes - from NBC News