Indigenous Officials and Development Management in Santiago el Pinar, Chiapas (2015-2018)

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, the indigenous peoples of Chiapas witnessed a “new” process of incorporation and participation - despite multiple difficulties - within the municipal government decision-making spaces. Although said population has been gaining experience in its relationship with the local administrative logic itself, the documentation of these new practices continues to set aside the multiple strategies built by said population to join local governments and the effective role to manage a political agenda once located in the town halls. Based on the management experience of the tsotsil officials of the Santiago el Pinar city council (2015-2018) and their effective role in the exercise of local policies, the work seeks to offer some initial clues about the operation, mechanics and possibilities of the Chiapas multicultural route in local government decision-making processes.