Lisel The Lightning Rod? "Nonsense!"
Several months ago, it made evening news when the Mayan village of
Indian Creek in the Toledo District publicly expressed their outrage
against a private landowner group represented by conservationist Lisel
Alamilla.
As we have reported, the dispute is over 12,000 acres of land located
near the village, and although the conservation group, Fuana and Flora
International, has title proving its private property, the villagers
strongly believe it makes up a part of their Maya communal lands.
Alamilla's connection to the conservation group was a major sore point
for the Maya and the Briceno Government. That's because up until the
close of 2020, she served as the Chairperson of the Toledo Maya Land
Rights Commission, which was established to work with the Maya people
and the government on how best to officially implement Maya customary
land rights.
So, when Alamilla appeared as a guest on last night's episode of Uncut,
host Jules Vasquez asked her to finally address the controversy which
she had initially dismissed back in February and March.
Here's her take on the backstory behind that the land that's now in
dispute:
Lisel Alamilla - Rep., Fauna and Flora International
"There are 3 parcels of land that make up the Boden Creek Ecological
Preserve, as it's referred to. And it's right opposite Nim Li Punit
Archaeological Site and borders the Primary School of Indian Creek. Let's
go back to the whole thing about private lands, and where it fits into this
whole Maya Land Rights movement, right. First, [for] private freehold title
land, people have rights. You can't just extinguish their rights by consent
order, right. Their rights are protected by [the] constitution. If this was
a leasehold land or land that there wasn't a title for, it would be a
different story."
Jules Vasquez
"So then, is it preposterous to claim that you need to be careful with this
because of the customary land rights? You're saying that this estate does
not fall under customary land rights."
Lisel Alamilla
"Well, what I'm saying is this, right. In regards to the consent order, if
you have private lands, and the Maya people are claiming those lands to be
their lands, and they want the government to recover those lands and return
it to them, and the government agrees, there's a process that you have to
go through to recover that land. One of the first things that you probably
would do is you would approach the landowner and say, We agree with the
villagers of Indian Creek that this land should be recovered and returned
to them. And so, we want to ask you to if you would take another piece of
land of the same value or size somewhere else in the country.' And the
person might agree, the owner. If the person doesn't agree then you can
say, well, we wanna purchase the land from you. We'll pay you for the value
of the land, and the owner can say, no, I don't want to get rid of the
land. Government has to take that owner to court, there has to be a process
to extinguish that owner's rights. This consent order, tells you that Maya
Customary Land tenure exists in the Toledo District, but it doesn't
prescribe how those lands are going to be recovered. With Boden Creek, this
is private land, and until you get to the point where you're going to start
addressing the issues of private land, this land is protected."
Jules Vasquez
"You're a lightning rod, Lisel. You have the government putting out a
release against you. The next month, the community is up in arms against
you. What's up with that?"
Lisel Alamilla
"And I haven't really responded to that?"
Jules Vasquez
"You have not responded, and I'm asking you now, what's your response to
that?"
Lisel Alamilla
"Well, Jules, because people are talking nonsense."
Jules Vasquez
"How so?"
Lisel Alamilla
"This is private land. It's freehold title land. It has protection under
the constitution. First of all, when you're talking about Government
the whole thing they're saying, that government should maintain the status
quo. That applies to crown land. That doesn't apply to private land."
Jules Vasquez
"You represent now Fauna and Flora International, am I right?"
Lisel Alamilla
"Yes."
Jules Vasquez
"So, what do they wish to do with Boden Creek?"
Lisel Alamilla
"I think, actually, it's very complementary with what the Maya people say
they want to recover the lands for, which is for conservation. It is for
customary uses."
Jules Vasquez
"What do you mean by customary uses? Logging, fishing, hunting?"
Lisel Alamilla
"Yes."
Jules Vasquez
"Logging as well."
Lisel Alamilla
"Some, usually extraction of forest products."
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