The government says drug cartel violence and land disputes have made certain Mayan ruins in Mexico inaccessible.
The archaeological sites of Yasilan and Bonampac have been completely cut off due to drug violence in Chiapas, which has increased sharply since last year, the government announced Friday.
The latter site is famous for its murals, but the road leading to it is inaccessible due to armed groups and checkpoints, a tour guide told The Associated Press.
Labyrinth of structure 19, ruins of Yaxsilan, Chiapas, Mexico. Mayan civilization. (Getty Images)
They say travelers are forced to hand over their identification documents and cellphones at cartel checkpoints to yet another Lagartero site.
The towering pyramids of Tonina are also closed to visitors. This is because landowners are blocking access to their land while seeking payment from the government for granting rights of way.
Mexico demands answers amid mass influx of US military weapons to drug cartels
No tourists have been harmed so far and the government insists the area is safe, but many guides no longer lead group tours.
One tour guide likened the proposal to being told it was safe to go to the Gaza Strip.
Both guides, speaking to The Associated Press, stressed that the imposing temple complex of Palenque, Chiapas’ most famous and most spectacular Mayan ruins, is open to the public and completely safe for visitors. But starting around December, tourists canceled about 5% of their booked trips to the region.
What some tourists once enjoyed, such as more adventurous trips to ruins buried deep in the jungle and only reachable by boat, such as Yaxsiran on the banks of the Usumacinta River, is no longer possible. It’s dangerous, or as dangerous as some guides make it out to be. They announced that they would not take tourists there.
Residents of the town of Frontera Comalapa, where boats once carried tourists to Yasilan, closed the road in October due to constant infiltration by armed groups.
Tourists in Isilan. Usumacinta, Chiapas, Mexico. (Photo credit: Dosfotos/Design Pics Editor/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Dosfotos/Design Pix Editing/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The increase in cartel fighting in Chiapas in 2023 is due in part to an increase in the number of migrants from South America (currently about 500,000 per year) heading through the Darien Gap jungle to Central America and Mexico to the U.S. border. We are doing so.
Many of the new waves of migrants come from Cuba, Asia and Africa, where they can pay higher prices than Central Americans, making smuggling routes through Chiapas more valuable. This problem now seems out of anyone’s control.
Another tour guide said it’s because two warring drug cartels, Sinaloa and Jalisco, often recruit or force locals to act as foot soldiers to prevent the National Guard from entering the town. Told.
Residents of Chiapas are often members of indigenous tribes such as the Choles and Lacandons, who are descendants of the ancient Maya. The potential harm of using them as infantry in cartel battles is severe, given that some groups have few members left or are already embroiled in land disputes.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Guides say the site has the added disadvantage of being located in a jungle area where cartels have carved out at least four secret landing strips to transport drugs from South America.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
