A Court of Nayarit, a small state in western Mexico, has ordered on Tuesday the provisional suspension of the works for the construction of a football stadium promoted by the governor, Miguel Ángel Navarro, of the official Morena, in the land where the Cultural Complex City of the Arts was located, demolished last week in Tepic, the state capital. The Third District Court has ordered the authorities that “they refrain to execute or perform any act of demolition, destruction or deforestation, as well as the construction of public works” that Navarro intends to raise. The judicial decision has been applauded by the group of artists, environmentalists and cultural managers that oppose the construction of the enclosure.
This group had filed three amparos last week against the works of the new space, as the last resort after the destruction of the Arts Center. “The provisional suspension is granted to the complainant party, so that the responsible authorities maintain things in the state they currently keep, that is, they refrain from executing or performing any act of demolition, destruction, deforestation of the urban trees, as well as the construction of the public works, in the aforementioned recreational space located in this city of Tepic”, orders the ruling of the Third District Court in Civil Amparo. and federal judgments of Nayarit.
Governor Navarro began the demolition of the city of the Arts at the beginning of June, in an official act. Navarro said his plans are to build the football stadium, which will be named Nicolás Álvarez Ortega, a local athlete, “as part of his administration’s commitment to strengthen sports infrastructure.” The work will cost 300 million pesos and capacity to gather 12,500 spectators. The Government hopes to conclude it in the first half of 2026. As Navarro has promised, the enclosure will have “first level facilities, including a field with FIFA standards”, although it is not clear which team will play in it, because Tepic does not have one. From the beginning of the works, a group of artists, activists and citizens mobilized to avoid the destruction of the complex and, despite carrying out several manifestations and artistic actions, the center was destroyed. She opposed a deputy of her own party, Beatriz Navarro, who has demanded that the works stop.
The judicial ruling on Tuesday represents a political coup for the governor, who keeps silent about the controversy generated by what would be his distinguished work in Tepic. Navarro organized a demonstration of its supporters at the weekend to express their support to the stadium, but their critics point out that they were officials and public workers mobilized by the Government. Navarro appointed Rocío González, his general secretary, as an intermediary in the dispute, but his management has failed. González has not responded to the continuous interview requests of this newspaper and this Tuesday, after looking for her again, I continue with her silence.
“The Federal Judicial Power has accepted the first collective amparo and has granted the provisional suspension of the demolition work in the City of the Arts of Nayarit, in a determination that represents a milestone in the citizen defense of the cultural, environmental and social heritage of the capital of the Nayarita capital,” the representatives of the group that opposes the work of Navarro, which are called movement in defense of the city of the arts. This group has denounced before the Justice “a series of serious human rights violations and various legal provisions by state and municipal authorities, when initiating without public consultation, visible permits or technical opinions, the demolition of the artistic-cultural complex to impose a football stadium instead”.
The amparo exposes multiple causes, including illegal demolitions and deforestation, violation of the right to culture and the health from Navarro.
“For us it is a very important milestone as part of the resistance movement,” says Lissette Álvarez Cazola, Cultural Manager of Nayarit. “It is a sign that we can fight in front of a Goliath. We know that this is just beginning, but it is worth following,” he adds. Álvarez reports that the failure of two other amparos is still pending, but trusts that justice will be on his side. “We will continue in that same legal line, because I think we are moving forward,” says the activist.