From Amealco de Bonfil, Querétaro, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo led the delivery of 139.9 million pesos from the Social Infrastructure Contribution Fund for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples and Communities (FAISPIAM). The funds are designated for 176 communities belonging to the Otomí, Pame, and Huasteco peoples.
Speaking from an Otomí community, Sheinbaum emphasized that in Mexico there exists a fourth level of government equal in importance to the federal, state, and municipal levels: that of Indigenous and Afro Mexican peoples. “This is a profound recognition of your organization, your dignity, your history, and your right to self-determination,” she declared.
Sheinbaum highlighted that it was during the Fourth Transformation that Indigenous peoples were officially recognized as subjects of rights, thanks to the constitutional reform of Article 2. This reform allows them to receive direct funding for essential infrastructure, with decisions made through community assemblies.
Of the total, 43.1 million pesos will be allocated to 39 communities in Amealco de Bonfil, according to Adelfo Regino Montes, Director of the National Institute for Indigenous Peoples (INPI). Gloria Cruz Jurado, an Indigenous authority from the community of San Juan Dehedo, shared that part of the funds will be used to pave roads currently made of dirt.
President Sheinbaum also emphasized the leadership of women in this process, as they serve as community treasurers responsible for administering FAISPIAM funds strengthening their role in the nation’s transformation.
She also celebrated the election of Mixtec Indigenous leader Hugo Aguilar Ortiz as the new President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), calling it a direct result of the judiciary renewal being advanced under the “Second Floor” of the Fourth Transformation.
Finally, Sheinbaum underscored that her administration’s international negotiating power stems from the support of the people:
“When the President of Mexico sits down to talk with any other world leader including the President of the United States there is one unique force that brings legitimacy and strength: the people of Mexico.”
