“Nobody has paid me”: Natalia Lafourcade endorsed her rejection of the AMLO Mayan Train

In mid-March, a group of characters from the media of entertainment and art broadcast a video in which they pronounce their rejection against the change of route of section five of the Mayan Train, which runs from Cancun to Tulum.

The group of artists that includes personalities such as Rubén Albarrán from Café Tacvba, Bárbara Mori, Eugenio Derbez, Saúl Hernández de Caifanes, Kate del Castillo, Regina Blandón, among others, joined the campaign “Sélvame del tren” and expressed their concern about the damage to the area's ecosystem with the construction of one of the great works of the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“We are not their opponents, we are Mexican and we want life for all of us [...] President, section 5 will pass over underground rivers, caves and cenotes. A unique and the largest ecosystem in the world [...] We invite you to come and visit the area and listen to the experts,” Mexican celebrities said in the controversial video.

According to the Mexican president, the Mayan Train is a project that will improve people's quality of life and trigger sustainable development, putting care in the preservation of the environment. The transport will cover a distance of 1,500 kilometers and will pass through the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo.

Following the release of the video, at the morning conference on March 23, AMLO said that the celebrities who are part of the campaign could have been financed by businessman Claudio X. González, president of the Mexican NGO Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) and a strong opponent of the call 4T.

“It's a campaign against it because they are very conservative, they are fifis... There is also dishonesty in artists, scientists, intellectuals, and it is normal, these celebrities either get paid or do it out of conviction, because they are very upset about what is happening in the country. They are our adversaries and some are very uninformed, they were clearly reading,” he said at the time.

“Who knows who financed, not that they have been paid, there is also that possibility that they have been paid, but it did cost the production and someone is behind, Claudio X. González, the same people who feel affected in the Riviera Maya who have destroyed the environment and others,” he added.

Following the president's speculation, musician Gastón Lafourcade released a video statement in which he supports the work promoted by the federal government and attacks the celebrities who appear in the video “Save me from the train”, which also features his daughter, Natalia Lafourcade.

“I am obliged to explain some things to the comments of a group of people related to the media and television, who have used themselves as experts in ecology and environmentalism, and whose statements denote absolute ignorance,” said the artisan.

Now, it was his daughter who endorsed his rejection of the construction of the work and made it clear that no one gave him a payment to express his opinion.

“It is important for them to know that no one, not a natural person, nor company, nor political organization has paid or motivated me in any way to express my opinion and concern about this issue,” he wrote on his Instagram account.

In the two-part statement shared on her account, the singer of From the root responded to criticism, and not to mention her father, she touched on a point that Gastón Lafourcade spoke about, who criticized the intervention of celebrities in the field of politics.

The multi-winner of the Latin Grammy reaffirmed her concern and asked that experts discuss with experts the possible ecological effects in the area: “In this way I shared my concern for our environment, our real home: its water, its life, its cycles, its culture, its beauty, its history, its wealth. Caution, don't run! But to really analyze at maximum depth how to do it in the least invasive way possible.”

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