Pronouncement: Wixarika Sacred Site Route to Wirikuta as Cultural and Natural World Heritage of the UNESCO
TO THE MASS AND ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
TO THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF MEXICO AND THE WORLD
TO OUR FOLLOWERS AND ALLIES
TO ORGANIZED CIVIL SOCIETY
TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC
TO THE MEXICAN STATE
The Traditional, Civil and Agrarian Authorities of the Wixárika people who make up the Wixárika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta:
WE STATE Following the inscription of the Wixárika Route through the Sacred Sites of Wirikuta as a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, on Saturday, July 12, 2025, during the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee.
That this recognition is a strategic tool that strengthens the protection of Wirikuta and many other sacred sites along our ancestral routes to prevent their deterioration and destruction.
That it does not imply the dispossession of the ejido members and landowners who inhabit the sacred territory.
That the Wixárika Regional Council, along with its allies, has worked for years to achieve this international recognition and to publicize the importance of this work.
That this recognition does not mean surrendering our ancient culture, but rather protecting it to prevent its plunder, commodification, and extinction.
That this recognition commits the Mexican State more than ever to providing sustainable development options for local inhabitants, preventing the exploitation of the territory by agribusiness and extractive projects.
That this recognition obliges Mexico to increase its efforts in protecting peyote from plunder by groups that do not belong to the Wixárika people, who have brought it to the brink of extinction.
Today more than ever, the Wixárika Regional Council demands that Wirikuta and other sacred sites be free from threats and that they provide dignified and sustainable opportunities for their inhabitants.
We, the members of the Wixárika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta, categorically reject the defamation and criminalization of our defense of sacred sites, as well as of our members, specifically our comrade Santos De la Cruz.
We reiterate that our defense is for life itself, and we remember our comrades who lost their lives defending sacred sites. Therefore, and considering the new international obligations assumed by the Mexican State, we demand:
1. The cancellation of each and every mining concession held by national and foreign companies in the Sierra de Catorce and the Wirikuta lowlands and their surrounding areas.
2. That the Wirikuta Protected Natural Area in the State of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, be elevated to federal status.
3. The adoption of appropriate legal, scientific, technical, administrative, and financial measures to protect, conserve, and restore our sacred sites and ancestral pilgrimage routes.
4. Adopt a general policy to protect cultural and natural heritage in planning and development programs in the region, developed with the participation of the inhabitants and the Wixárika people.
5. Recognize and support the ancestral forms of organization of the Wixárika people for the management, monitoring, and regeneration of our sacred sites, with an inclusive and participatory approach involving local inhabitants.
Sincerely,
Wirikuta is not for sale, it is loved and defended!
Wixárika Regional Council for the Defense of Wirikuta,
December 2, 2025, Mexico City, Mexico.
