Municipality of Yecapixtla, State of Morelos v. Congress of the Union et al.

In the mid-1990s, members of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (Zapatistas) were engaged in negotiations with the federal executive branch (defendant) of the Mexican government regarding indigenous rights and culture. The parties came close to an agreement, which became the basis for an initiative for constitutional amendment. However, negotiations between the Zapatistas and the government broke down in 1996, the agreement was never finalized, and the federal executive branch rejected the initiative for constitutional amendment. Four years later, the Mexican president sent the initiative to the Mexican senate, which modified the initiative and approved its own bill on indigenous rights and culture. Despite the protests of the Zapatistas, the Mexican Congress (defendant) tallied the votes of the state legislatures (defendants) and announced the Constitutional Amendments on Indigenous Matters, which became effective in 2001. The Municipality of Yecapixtla (plaintiff) instituted an action with the Records and Correspondence Department of the Mexico Supreme Court, calling for the invalidation of the constitutional amendments carried out by the Mexican Congress, state legislatures, Congress’s Permanent Commission (defendant), and the federal executive branch. Yecapixtla complained that the government violated the procedure for amending the constitution and that the amendments infringed on the indigenous peoples’ rights. Specifically, Yecapixtla complained that the government denied the indigenous people due process by failing to consult with the indigenous people regarding the amendments to the constitution. Yecapixtla further argued the voting procedures used by the various government branches were improper.