Chetumal, Q.R. — The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has denied building permits to the Mexican Army. The environmental permits were denied after they cleared 45,000 square meters of land without authorization.
Building of their new military police facilities began in July of 2025 and continued until recently . The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) denied the permits after verifying they started the clearing process without permission and also failed to submit the necessary studies.
Semarnat has put a hold on the construction of the military facility which is being built at the entrance to the city of Chetumal. Semarnat points out that the armed forces have violated Articles 28, sections VII and IX and 30 of the LGEEPA, and 5, subsections O), section I and Q) of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation (REIA).
The actions of the Ministry of National Defense, in initiating the clearing of a property without processing the environmental impact authorization “caused the preventive nature of the Environmental Impact procedure to be lost, due to the change of land use of forested areas on an area of 45,531.11 m², with medium-sized sub-evergreen forest vegetation, and having begun construction of the works that make up the project, which have made great progress in their development,” reads the Semarnat resolution.
In addition to denying the permit, Semarnat has referred the case to Profepa (National Environmental Protection Agency) for investigation and fines since the building shows “great progress” despite the lack of authorization.
The military base was being built on the basis of “provisional permits” allowed during the administration of former-president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
