Overview
- Antonio Silván Peralta, a Morena municipal leader in Macuspana, posted photos of himself eating “tortuga guao” and later deleted the images after online backlash.
- PROFEPA, the federal environmental enforcement agency, said consuming protected wildlife is an infraction and stated it would act within its authority.
- The turtle shown, Staurotypus triporcatus, appears on NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, which restricts capture, sale, and consumption of listed species.
- As of the latest reports, no environmental authority had announced a formal proceeding and neither Silván nor Morena in Tabasco had issued a public statement.
- Tabasco allows wildlife use only when animals come from registered Wildlife Management Units, known as UMAs, yet roadside sales of protected species are reported to persist with few penalties.