They demand to close or regulate African palm oil factories in Lacandona, Mexico

ELIO ENRÍQUEZ, CORRESPONDENT. THE DAY. They affect agriculture and livestock and exploit Guatemalans, they accuse. SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Chiapas. Around 2,000 people participated in a march in the municipality of Benemérito de las Américas, located in the Lacandona jungle, to demand that two factories that produce African palm oil that pollute the area be closed or regulated. Francisco de la Torre, parish priest of Benemérito de las Américas, stated that when the project to plant African palm in the demarcation began, the owners of the Sustainable Oil and Agro IMSA factories told the residents that it would be fine, but years have passed and no benefits, they have only caused pollution. He explained that the mobilization, in which, according to his calculations, some 2,000 inhabitants from various communities in the region participated, began yesterday after eight in the morning in a place where a military post is located. After walking 10 kilometers, the protesters arrived ...