Article 2 Political Constitution of the United Mexican States

The Mexican Nation is unique and indivisible, based on the greatness of its peoples and cultures.

The Nation has a pluricultural and multiethnic composition sustained originally in its Indigenous peoples, which are those collectivities with a historical continuity of the precolonial societies established in the national territory; and that conserve, develop and transmit their social, normative, economic, cultural and political institutions, or part of them.

The awareness of their Indigenous identity shall be a fundamental criterion to determine to whom the provisions on Indigenous peoples apply.

Communities that are integral parts of an Indigenous people are those that form a social, economic and cultural unit, settled in a territory and that recognize their own authorities in accordance with their normative systems.

The right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination shall be exercised within a constitutional framework of autonomy that ensures national unity. For the recognition of Indigenous peoples and communities, in addition to the general principles established in the preceding paragraphs of this article, ethnolinguistic, physical settlement and self-ascription criteria must be taken into account.

Indigenous peoples and communities are recognized as subjects of public law with legal personality and their own patrimony.

A.This Constitution recognizes and guarantees the right of Indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and, consequently, to autonomy to:

I.Decide, in accordance with their normative systems and in accordance with this Constitution, their internal forms of government, of coexistence and of social, economic, political and cultural organization.

II.Apply and develop their own normative systems in the regulation and solution of their internal conflicts, subjecting themselves to the general principles of this Constitution, respecting individual guarantees, human rights and, in particular, the dignity and integrity of women. The law shall establish the cases and procedures for validation by the corresponding judges or courts.

Indigenous jurisdiction shall be exercised by the community authorities in accordance with the normative systems of the Indigenous peoples and communities, within the framework of the legal order in force, under the terms of this Constitution and applicable laws.

III.Elect, in accordance with their normative systems, the authorities or representatives for the exercise of their own forms of internal government, guaranteeing that Indigenous women and men shall enjoy and exercise their right to vote and be voted for under conditions of equality; as well as to access and hold public offices and offices of popular election for which they have been elected or designated, within a framework that respects the federal pact, the sovereignty of the States and the autonomy of Mexico City. In no case shall their normative systems limit the political-electoral rights of citizens in the election of their municipal authorities.

IV.Preserve, protect and develop their cultural patrimony, material and immaterial, which comprises all the elements that constitute their culture and identity. Collective intellectual property with respect to said patrimony is recognized, under the terms that the laws provide.

V.Promote the use, development, preservation, study and dissemination of Indigenous languages as a constitutive element of the cultural diversity of the Nation, as well as a multilingual linguistic policy that allows their use in public spaces and in the private ones that correspond.

VI.Participate, under the terms of article 3 of the Constitution, in the construction of the educational models to recognize the pluricultural composition of the Nation based on their cultures, languages and methods of teaching and learning.

VII.Develop, practice, strengthen and promote traditional medicine, as well as midwifery for the care of pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium. The persons who practice them are recognized, including their knowledge and health practices.

VIII.Conserve and improve the habitat, and preserve the bioculturality and the integrity of their lands, including their sacred places declared by the competent authority, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions on the matter.

IX.Access, with respect for the forms and modalities of property and land tenure established in this Constitution and the laws on the matter, as well as for the rights acquired by third parties or by members of the community, to the preferential use and enjoyment of the natural resources of the places that the communities inhabit and occupy, except those that correspond to the strategic areas, under the terms of this Constitution. For these purposes the communities may associate under the terms of law.

X.Elect, in the municipalities with Indigenous population, representatives in the city councils, in accordance with the principles of gender parity and pluriculturality in accordance with the applicable norms. The constitutions and laws of the states (federal entities) shall recognize and regulate these rights, with the purpose of strengthening their participation and political representation.

XI.Access fully the jurisdiction of the State. To guarantee that right, in all trials and procedures in which they are a party, individually or collectively, their normative systems and cultural specificities must be taken into account with respect for the precepts of this Constitution.

Indigenous persons have, at all times, the right to be assisted and advised by interpreters, translators, defenders and experts specialized in Indigenous rights, legal pluralism, gender perspective, and cultural and linguistic diversity.

XII.Exercise their right to integral development based on their forms of economic, social and cultural organization, with respect for the integrity of the environment and natural resources under the terms of the applicable legal provisions.

XIII.Be consulted on the legislative or administrative measures that are intended to be adopted, when these may cause significant effects or impacts on their life or environment, with the purpose of obtaining their consent or, as the case may be, reaching an agreement on such measures.

Indigenous consultations shall be carried out in accordance with principles and norms that guarantee respect and the effective exercise of the substantive rights of the Indigenous peoples recognized in this Constitution.

When the administrative measure that is intended to be adopted benefits a private individual, the cost of the consultation must be covered by the latter.

The natural person or legal person that obtains a profit from the administrative measures subject to consultation must grant the Indigenous peoples and communities a just and equitable benefit, under the terms established by the applicable laws.

Indigenous peoples and communities are the only ones legitimized to challenge, through the established jurisdictional means, the non-compliance with the right recognized in this section. The law on the matter shall regulate the terms, conditions and procedures to carry out the challenge.

B.The Federation, the states (federal entities), the Municipalities and, as the case may be, the territorial demarcations of Mexico City, must establish the institutions and determine the public policies that guarantee the effective exercise of the rights of Indigenous peoples and their integral, intercultural and sustainable development, which must be designed and operated jointly with them.

For such purpose, said authorities have the obligation to:

I.Promote the community and regional development of the Indigenous peoples and communities, to improve their living conditions and common welfare, through development plans that strengthen their economies and foster agroecology, traditional crops, especially the milpa system, native seeds, the agri-food resources and the optimal use of the land, free from the use of dangerous substances and toxic chemical products.

The law shall establish the mechanisms that facilitate the organization and development of the economies of the Indigenous peoples and communities, and shall recognize community work as part of their social and cultural organization.

II.Determine, through compensatory, equitable, just and proportional norms and criteria, budgetary allocations for the Indigenous peoples and communities, which shall be administered directly by these.

III.Adopt the necessary measures to recognize and protect the cultural patrimony, the collective intellectual property, the knowledge and the traditional cultural expressions of the Indigenous peoples and communities, under the terms established by law.

IV.Guarantee and strengthen intercultural and plurilingual Indigenous education, through:

a)Literacy and education at all levels, free of charge, integral and with cultural and linguistic relevance;

b)The training of Indigenous professionals and the implementation of community education;

c)The establishment of a system of scholarships for Indigenous persons who pursue any educational level;

d)The promotion of bilingual educational programs, in accordance with the methods of teaching and learning of the Indigenous peoples and communities, and

e)The definition and development of educational programs that recognize and promote the cultural heritage of the Indigenous peoples and communities and its importance for the Nation; as well as the promotion of an intercultural relationship, of non-discrimination and free of racism.

V.Ensure effective access to health services through the expansion of the coverage of the national system with an intercultural perspective, as well as recognize the practices of traditional medicine.

VI.Guarantee the right to nutritious, sufficient and quality food with cultural relevance, especially for the child population.

VII.Improve the living conditions of the Indigenous peoples and communities and of their spaces for coexistence and recreation, through actions that guarantee access to financing for the construction and improvement of housing, as well as expand the coverage of basic social services, in harmony with their natural and cultural environment, their knowledge and traditional technologies.

VIII.Guarantee the effective participation of Indigenous women, under conditions of equality, in the processes of integral development of the Indigenous peoples and communities; their access to education, as well as to the property and possession of the land; their participation in public decision-making, and the promotion and respect of their human rights.

IX.Guarantee and extend the communications network that allows the articulation of the Indigenous peoples and communities, through the construction and expansion of communication routes, artisanal roads, radio broadcasting, telecommunication and broadband Internet.

X.Establish and guarantee the conditions so that the Indigenous peoples and communities can acquire, operate, promote, develop and administer their media, telecommunications and new information technologies, guaranteeing optimal spaces of the radioelectric spectrum and of the networks and infrastructure, making use of their languages and other cultural elements.

XI.Adopt measures so that the Indigenous peoples and communities access the media and information under conditions of dignity, equity and interculturality, without any discrimination so that they reflect Indigenous cultural diversity.

XII.Support the productive activities and the sustainable development of the Indigenous communities through actions that allow reaching the sufficiency of their economic income, the creation of employment, the incorporation of technologies and their traditional production systems, to increase their own productive capacity, as well as to ensure equitable access to the systems of supply and marketing.

XIII.Establish public policies to protect the migrant Indigenous communities and persons, both in the national territory and abroad, especially through actions intended to:

a)Recognize the organizational forms of the resident Indigenous communities and of the migrant Indigenous persons in their contexts of destination in the national territory;

b)Guarantee the labor rights of agricultural day laborers, domestic employees and employees with disabilities;

c)Improve the health conditions of women, as well as support with special programs of education and nutrition girls, boys, adolescents and youths of migrant families;

d)Permanently ensure respect for their human rights, and

e)Promote, with full respect for their identity, the dissemination of their cultures and social inclusion in the places of destination that foster actions to strengthen the family and community bond.

The law shall establish the mechanisms so that resident Indigenous persons and migrant persons can maintain Mexican citizenship and the bond with their communities of origin.

XIV.Consult the Indigenous peoples in the elaboration of the National Development Plan and of the plans of the states (federal entities), of the Municipalities and, when appropriate, of the territorial demarcations of Mexico City and, as the case may be, incorporate the recommendations and proposals that they make.

XV.Hold consultations and cooperate in good faith with the Indigenous peoples and communities, through their representative institutions, before adopting and applying legislative or administrative measures that may cause significant effects or impacts on their life or environment, under the terms of section XIII of Subsection A of this article.

The Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union, the legislatures of the states (federal entities) and the city councils, within the scope of their respective competences, must establish the specific items in the budgets of expenditures that they approve, as well as the forms and procedures, so that the Indigenous peoples and communities administer and exercise them in accordance with the laws on the matter.

Without prejudice to the rights here established in favor of the Indigenous persons, their communities and peoples, every community comparable to those shall have, as applicable, the same rights as established by law.

C.This Constitution recognizes the Afro-Mexican peoples and communities, whatever their self-designation, as part of the pluricultural composition of the Nation. They shall have, as applicable, the rights indicated in the preceding subsections of this article, in order to guarantee their development and social inclusion, under the terms established by this Constitution, as well as their self-determination, which shall be exercised within a constitutional framework of autonomy that ensures national unity.

The Afro-Mexican peoples and communities are integrated by descendants of persons originating from populations of the African continent brought and settled in the national territory since colonial times, with their own forms of social, economic, political and cultural organization, or part of them, and they affirm their existence as culturally differentiated collectivities.

The Afro-Mexican peoples and communities have the character of subjects of public law, with legal personality and their own patrimony. They also have the right to:

I.The protection of their cultural identity, ways of life, spiritual expressions and of all the elements that integrate their cultural patrimony, material and immaterial, and their collective intellectual property, under the terms established by law;

II.The promotion, recognition and protection of their knowledge, contributions and input in the national history and to the cultural diversity of the Nation, which must remain inserted in the modalities and levels of the National Educational System, and

III.Be included in the production and records of data, information, statistics, censuses and official surveys, for which the competent institutions shall establish the procedures, methods and criteria to register their identity and self-ascription.

D.This Constitution recognizes and the State guarantees the right of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican women to participate effectively and under conditions of substantive equality in the processes of integral development of their peoples and communities; in public decision-making; in the promotion and respect of their rights of access to education, to health, to property and to the possession of the land and other human rights.

The right of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican children, adolescents and youth to adequate attention, in their own languages, is recognized and guaranteed, to make effective the knowledge and full exercise of their rights of access to education, to health, to technology, to art, culture, sports and training for work, among others. Likewise, to guarantee a life free of exclusion, discrimination and violence, especially of sexual and gender violence, and to establish policies directed at preventing and addressing addictions, with a vision of respect for their cultural identities.

The Federation, the states (federal entities) and the municipalities shall adopt the necessary measures to make effective the rights recognized in this Constitution with the purpose of eliminating the discrimination, racism, exclusion and invisibility of which the Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities are object.

The general law must establish the norms and mechanisms that ensure respect and the implementation of the rights of the Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities recognized in this Constitution.

The constitutions and laws of the states (federal entities) shall establish the bases and mechanisms to ensure the effective observance of everything provided in this article, in their respective spheres of competence.