Right in front of the Sonoran government palace on Friday, marijuana activists and members of the indigenous Mayo people dug two holes for small marijuana plants, and put them in the ground.
The action was organized by members of the Plan de Tetecala movement, which seeks to bring together indigenous people, communal land holders and other poor or marginalized groups across Mexico to demand that their right to plant marijuana be respected.
“We informed (Sonoran authorities) that starting today in Mayo territory, marijuana will be cultivated,” said Andrés Saavedra, an attorney with the movement.
The documents they handed over to them point to indigenous rights to self-determination, as well as last year’s Mexican Supreme Court ruling that prohibitions on recreational pot were unconstitutional.
“We want to start planting,” said Amanda Burgos, who hails from the southern Sonora municipality of Alamos. “How? Organically.”
She said she’s especially interested in medical products, and added that marijuana cultivation could also become a critical source of income for her community.
