10% of the FAIS will go to Indigenous Peoples.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced that starting this year, and for the first time in history, 12.374 billion pesos (mdp) from the Fund for Contributions to Social Infrastructure (FAIS) will be directly allocated to Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities. These communities will decide the use of the resources through assemblies held from April 1 to 30.
"For the first time in history, these funds are being directly allocated to Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities (...) the assemblies will begin next month in all Indigenous communities," she reported at the morning press conference, "Las mañaneras del pueblo" (The People's Morning Conferences).
She emphasized that the delivery of these resources is thanks to the reform submitted by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to Article 2 of the Political Constitution, which recognizes Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples as subjects of public law with legal personality and their own assets. Therefore, he established that 10 percent of the FAIS be allocated to them.
“The constitutional reform was approved last year, a reform submitted by President López Obrador so that all Indigenous peoples are recognized as subjects of law, with their own assets. It is a radical change in the vision of Indigenous peoples because for the first time they are recognized as such,” he stated.
He explained that, with this constitutional change, the resources from the Federal Budget that come from the payment of taxes by the people of Mexico are distributed to the Federal Government, to the state and municipal governments, and now also to Indigenous peoples.
She explained that the distribution of these resources will be carried out in a similar manner to the "La Escuela es Nuestra" program, in which assemblies are established so that the communities themselves can choose how the resources will be used.
"A community assembly is held, and the community chooses. If they already have their own authorities, they will be given to them; and if not, the people elect a Commission that will manage these resources. How will they be used? Whatever the assembly decides and that meets the budgetary requirements," she commented.
She announced that work is already underway on the secondary law reforming Article 2 of the Political Constitution, which will also be consulted with Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities.
The Secretary of Welfare, Ariadna Montiel Reyes, specified that for this year, the FAIS has 123.743 billion pesos, of which 13.5 billion pesos will go to the states. 95,869 million for municipalities and 12,374 million for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities. These funds will be delivered directly by the Federal Treasury through the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP).
"This is the first time in Mexico that we have had this exercise of directly providing resources after the constitutional reform was approved," he commented.
She emphasized that the resources must be allocated exclusively to public works, basic actions, and infrastructure investments, so that this fund will help communities combat poverty. Therefore, it can be invested in projects related to: drinking water; sewage; drainage and latrines; urbanization; electrification; basic educational infrastructure; basic health infrastructure; and housing improvements.
She announced that the assembly period will run from April 1 to 30, where two committees will be elected: the Administration Committee, which will execute the resources, and the Oversight Committee, which will monitor the execution of the works and the budget.
With the FAIS, a total of 15,217 communities in 27,792 localities will benefit: 14,742 Indigenous communities in 27,278 localities; 431 Afro-Mexican communities in 462 localities, and 44 multicultural communities in 52 localities.
The Director of Information, Statistics, and Applied Research of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), Yuki Hueda Tanabe, reported that the National Catalog of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples and Communities currently identifies 70 indigenous communities and the Afro-Mexican community; 16,114 communities: 15,600 indigenous communities, 444 Afro-Mexican communities, and 20 multicultural communities, distributed across 28 states in the country.
She pointed out that the states with the most indigenous communities are Oaxaca with 2,914; Chiapas with 2,735; and Veracruz with 2,584 communities. The complete list can be found at catalogo.inpi.gob.mx.
She explained that, within the catalog, communities are identified according to their characteristics, such as the type of habitat (rural or urban), as well as the age of the settlement.
She emphasized that once the towns and communities are identified, the INPI will issue a certificate confirming their registration in the catalog with their name, the town to which they belong, and various security mechanisms, thereby recognizing them as legal entities.
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