Speleologist, Tania Ramirez, 42, advances in the middle of two stationary bulldozers which have cut the forest massif at the exit of Playa del Carmen towards Tulum (64 km).

"A suicide," she blurts out.

And even then, according to Ms. Ramirez, this is only the part of the damage visible to the naked eye in this tourist showcase of Mexico, one of the most visited countries in the world (and even the second largest destination in the world in 2021 according to some sources).

In addition to the forest, the Train site mainly threatens the subsoil of the peninsula, kingdom of the gods of death and disease in Mayan beliefs.

The Yucatan is based on a network of underground waterways unique in the world: caves, rivers and freshwater wells, the mysterious cenotes.

Peleologist Tania Ramirez at the construction site of the Mayan Train, between Tulum and Playa del Carmen, on April 27, 2022 in Mexico Pedro PARDO AFP

Nestled in natural sinkholes, these reservoirs of turquoise water number in the thousands.

A passageway to the "underworld" of the Maya, the cenotes are of great ecological and archaeological value.

And even touristy: some are equipped for family swimming.

It is these wells and chasms that are threatened by the construction of the Maya tourist train – 1,554 km in total, including 60 km on the disputed section, according to the speleologist.

"At every step you can find a cave", according to Tania Ramirez, who led the AFP team into one of the cavities discovered on the train route.

The entrance to a cave near the construction site of the Mayan Train, between Tulum and Playa del Carmen, on April 27, 2022 in Mexico Pedro PARDO AFP

The entrance is barely visible between fallen trunks and dead branches.

Inside, bats fly between stalactites.

The cave leads to an underground river.

In another natural vault, Tania Ramirez claims to have discovered archaeological remains, perhaps a pantry from the Mayan era according to her.

These discoveries on the sidelines of the site are protected, says the government, which also claims to have planted 500,000 hectares of trees on the surface.

Tania Ramirez is often told that the caves are not on the train route.

Diver Vicente Fito explores a cave near the Maya train construction site between Tulum and Playa del Carmen on April 26, 2022 in Mexico Pedro PARDO AFP

But the argument does not convince the specialists, who compare the subsoil of the region to a vast Swiss cheese.

"It's a hollow area that wouldn't support the weight of a train," said 48-year-old diver Vicente Fito.

"Imposters"

Between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, section number 5 of the tourist train has sparked an open battle between conservationists and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Initially, the train was to follow the route of the Tulum-Cancun route.

The course was finally modified in early 2022 towards the interior where the ground is firmer, according to the president.

Speleologist Tania Ramirez explores a cave near the construction site of the Mayan Train, between Tulum and Playa del Carmen, on April 27, 2022 in Mexico Pedro PARDO AFP

The ace!

A federal judge ordered the temporary suspension of work at the end of April, after an appeal by Tania Ramirez and other activists from the "Save me from the train" collective.

The judge found that the site had not been preceded by environmental impact studies.

Society needs this public transport, but also that its construction be done "in accordance with the legal provisions on the environment that prevail in Mexican law", wrote the magistrate.

As recently as Monday, another environmental NGO claimed that another judge had also called for the work to be suspended.

Turning his back on environmentalists, the president visited the Alstom-Bombardier factory on Monday, which signed a contract to build "42 trains with 210 wagons for the Maya train", he said on Twitter.

Tourists swim in a cenote near the Mayan Train construction site, between Tulum and Playa del Carmen, on April 27, 2022 in Mexico Pedro PARDO AFP

AMLO (his initials, his nickname) denounced in April the presence of "impostors" among the defenders of the environment, some of whom are, according to him, the henchmen of political campaigns financed by the United States.

The Head of State estimates that his train, at a total cost of 10 billion dollars, will allow the development of the Yucatan peninsula.

Nearly half of the population lives in poverty in the hinterland of the state of Quintana Roo, behind the shining showcases of international tourism (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum).

Diver Vicente Fito explores a cave near the Mayan Train construction site, between Tulum and Playa del Carmen, on April 26, 2022 in Meique Pedro PARDO AFP

"We need these types of projects," says Lenin Betancourt, president of the Riviera Maya Entrepreneurs Coordinating Council.

"We must fight this poverty".

For another speleologist and activist, Otto Von Bertrab, the only viable solution, according to him, is for the train to find its route along the road.

Otherwise "the destruction will be the legacy of this president".

© 2022 AFP