Quintana Roo state police attempted to evict residents of an illegal settlement in Playa del Carmen yesterday but were forced to withdraw to avoid a violent confrontation.

The police arrived in the community of Nueva Esperanza early yesterday morning to act on an eviction order obtained by the owner of the illegally-occupied land.

A verbal confrontation ensued between the officers and some of the approximately 300 residents who have squatted on the land in the west of the resort city for between one and a half and two years.

Around 10 people were forcibly removed from their homes and heavy machinery was used to tear down some of the makeshift dwellings, but residents retaliated by picking up sticks and stones to repel the police.

The officers left Nueva Esperanza at approximately 8:30am.

Later yesterday morning, about 80 residents arrived at municipal government offices to voice their opposition to the eviction attempt and to seek support to buy the land they are occupying in order to regularize the legal status of their homes.

Mayor Laura Beristain Navarrete met with the disgruntled residents and told them that municipal authorities would seek to mediate between the disputing parties.

She condemned the police’s use of force in a community where women, children and the elderly live.

Beristain also accused the state government of violating its authority by trying to carry out the eviction without notifying municipal authorities.

“. . . We have municipal autonomy, they carried out an improper act using force . . .” she said, adding that Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquín González should come to Playa del Carmen to help the local population instead of sending the police.

Source: Sipse (sp) Noticaribe (sp), Riviera Maya News (en), 24 Horas (sp)