No false gods for Mexican beach

[Pelican Press 0]

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No false gods for ******** beach

Authorities in Mexico have slapped a closure order on a 3-metre tall aquatic statue of the Greek **** of the sea Poseidon that was erected just off the town of Progreso, Yucatan.

Mexico’s environmental protection agency said the statue, which appears to show an ****** trident-wielding Poseidon rising from the sea a few metres from the beach, lacked permits.

In the few months it has been up, tourists had gathered to take pictures of themselves with it as a striking background.

But it was symbolically “closed” Thursday — and could be removed altogether — after a group of activist lawyers filed a legal complaint saying the statue of the Greek offended the beliefs of local Maya Indigenous groups who prefer their own local **** of water, known as Chaac.

It’s always been dangerous for humans to get involved in battles between deities. But this one appears to be all about present-day humanity, combining “cancel culture,” social media storms, lawsuits and the one truly fearsome, overpowering force in today’s world:

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selfie-fuelled tourism.

“Poseidon is a Greek **** who is alien to our Maya culture,” according to the legal complaint filed recently against the statue. “I have a human right for my Maya culture to be preserved.”

Carlos Morales, whose Indigenous Strategic Litigation group brought the complaint, says he wants the Poseidon statue removed.

“I want Poseidon removed from the beach at Progreso because it is foreign to the Maya culture, and because it did not meet the requirements of getting an environmental permits, he said.

Technically, under ******** law, any building project that could alter the ecosystem must file impact statements and get approval, though the government routinely violates its own rules and often slaps the little-feared “closure” stickers on private projects long after the damage is already done.

Mexico’s environmental protection agency “did nothing until we filed for a constitutional injunction,” Morales said. “Now they carried out a ‘closure’ action, which is pretty symbolic … because they were going to be embarrassed.”

Usually, the agency levies a fine or orders environmental studies, and then the project is allowed to continue. Only in rare cases do authorities order demolition or removal.

The office of environmental protection acknowledged that the Poseidon statue had been erected by the Progreso municipal government without proof of environmental impact studies. The office said it would “continue the administrative process (regarding the statue) to determine the appropriate actions.”

Critics of the statue cite a series of recent storms in and around the Gulf — Tropical Storm Alberto in June and Hurricane Beryl this week — as proof that Chaac, a fanged, *****-nose deity who isn’t quite as

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-friendly as Poseidon, is ******.

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#false #gods #******** #beach

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