Cozumel

Why are local and regional governments essential to promote, fulfill and respect human rights?

The proximity that makes the municipal level decisive everywhere becomes even more significant on an island. Cozumel is physically separated from the mainland, meaning that many services which elsewhere can be supplemented through nearby support depend almost exclusively on local capacity. Access to drinking water—drawn from a fragile island aquifer—solid waste management (which cannot simply be removed from the island without significant costs and logistics), energy, health care and education rely largely on municipal and state management. When the municipal government decides how these services are distributed, it effectively determines who enjoys the rights to health, water and a healthy environment.

The local government also understands the inequalities that are unique to Cozumel. The tourism-based economy generates employment but attracts many workers who migrate to the island and often live in peripheral neighborhoods with inadequate services, while investment is concentrated along the coastline and cruise ship terminals. 

Identifying these working populations, communities experiencing poverty, women living in situations of violence, and persons with disabilities—and designing responses tailored to their needs—is something that can only be achieved through close knowledge of the territory.

There is also an unavoidable environmental dimension. Cozumel’s coral reef, part of the Mesoamerican Reef System, is both an economic resource and a natural heritage site. The right to a healthy environment, recognized by the Mexican Constitution, requires local authorities to balance tourism pressures with the protection of the ecosystem upon which the island’s very existence depends.

Legally, Cozumel is fully bound by the obligations of the Mexican State. Constitutional and international human rights commitments apply to all levels of government, including municipalities, which share responsibility for respecting, protecting and guaranteeing these rights.

Why are human rights relevant values and a useful framework to guide local action?

First, they provide a compass for setting priorities. In a municipality where it is tempting to concentrate resources wherever tourism is strongest, a human rights approach requires asking who is being left behind: neighborhoods without continuous access to water, working families living far from essential services, and communities vulnerable to natural disasters such as hurricanes. 

This helps direct public spending toward dignity and equality, rather than solely toward tourism attractiveness.

Second, they provide a common and legitimate language. They enable the municipal government, the tourism sector, civil society organizations and residents to engage around shared principles, strengthening legitimacy and facilitating cooperation within a close-knit community where stakeholders know one another.

Third, they establish measurable standards. Principles such as availability, accessibility, quality and non-retrogression make it possible to assess whether water, health care and housing are genuinely improving for all residents—not only during the high tourist season—and to hold authorities accountable.

Fourth, they place people at the center of public policy. The principles of equality and non-discrimination require closing the gaps between the tourist-oriented Cozumel and the Cozumel of those who keep the island functioning every day, including the migrant population that sustains the local economy.

Finally, human rights encourage viewing sustainability as a matter of justice. Protecting the reef, water resources and the natural environment is not simply about preserving the island’s tourism product; it is about guaranteeing the rights of present and future generations of Cozumel.