Introduction

1Since the sixties, tourism on the island of Cozumel has become the way of life of the town. This economic activity has been transformed as capitalism has been energized, in the first instance through tourism linked to diving, decades later through cruises and in recent history with the high-performance sport. This fact has caused several changes in the structure of the island and that has finally resulted in the depletion of natural resources (common goods) and temporary closure of its usufruct as of October 7, 2019 (Méndez, September 23, 2019).

2The historical development of tourism is revealed through three phases: a) penetration; b) subsumption; and c) enclosures, stages that reveal the impacts that have resulted from the transformations of the capitalist mode of production through tourism in Cozumel. Even when the problems detected are associated with climate change and mass tourism, it should be noted that these impacts are consequences of the crises that capitalism itself generates for its constant renewal, that is, to achieve consolidation as a way of life. The search for sustainable tourism is below economic interests, thus the past fifty years have been historically reflected, where capital has used various forms for accumulation and thus enables the reproduction of the neo-liberal economic model.

3The findings make it possible to assert that if no substantive changes are made in the capitalist mode of production, it will continue as it has happened until the raw material is exhausted (read common goods), and the capital will go to another space where it finds what is necessary for its reproduction through the measures it has created for this: a) spaces for privatization; b) legal structure that allows accumulation; and c) precarious workforce; These three factors have not allowed organized civil society to manage the tourist destination since Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are plagued by interests linked to the growth of tourism capital, whether from the business or government arena.

1. The accumulation of capital and the reproduction of the way of life

4The neo-liberal economic model favors individual property, market institutions and free trade (Chang, 2003), therefore, private enterprise and entrepreneurship are considered the keys to innovation and wealth creation, hence the need of fiscal and labor deregulation, these structural changes are conditions that promote efficiency and productivity. Therefore, any form of government-linked to the welfare of the majority is a potential threat to the neoliberal capitalist mode of production (Harvey, 2007). Thus, these reforms in addition to the insertion of the country in the program of international economic integration and the reduction of the State (austerity) "radically reduce the possibilities of equitable growth and satisfaction of social needs" (Barkin, 1999).

5In Mexico, as a result of the implementation of the neo-liberal economic model in the eighties of the last century, under the premise that the free market through the privatization of parastatals, the reduction of taxes, the reduction of public spending and their insertion Free trade agreements caused food subsidies to be restricted in precarious areas, as well as the quality of education and social security (Lomnitz-Adler, 2004). In this way, the characteristics of accumulation by dispossession can be clearly seen in the economic-political history of the country from its entry into the global economy, which has been contrary to the promises of development, since they have reached the limits of inequality; In addition, in the country, ethnic-racial characteristics are a factor of distinction in the educational, occupational and economic fields (Solís, Güémez & Lorenzo, 2019).

6In general, the Mexican State has boosted the neoliberal economy, a situation that implied a series of structural reforms that would be supported by the legislative power; as amended: a) The Mexican Constitution regarding land ownership; b) The General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection; c) Foreign Investment Law; and d) Federal Labor Law, a situation that began in 1991 and together they have left 89.1 million people with social deprivation [educational, health, social security, food, housing, basic services] (CONEVAL, 2019).

7The academic literature on the accumulation by dispossession has increased over time, since the appearance of the term with Harvey in 2004, who visualized this process as the result of neoliberalism as a form of domination, dispossession and private appropriation of the means of production and its surpluses to reproduce capital. As Moore (2012, 2014) mentions, the capitalist mode of production seeks: a) low-cost food; b) labor force; c) energy; and d) raw materials, for the reproduction of capital, and for this, the mode of production makes use of the dynamics of accumulation: a) penetration; b) subsumption; and c) fences (Vilchis, et al, 2015).

8The accumulation by dispossession is affordable through certain dynamics, which begin with the penetration of the neoliberal economic model in the country, that is, through the insertion and adoption of measures that allow the privatization of state enterprises and the reduction of public spending, which it resulted in the sale of the parastatals linked to production, with the purpose of the private initiative replacing the offer of employment and the elaboration of consumer goods, so that of the 1,100 State companies that existed, at the beginning of the new millennium there were only 200 (Harvey, 2007).

9After the dismantling of the State as a producer, the tourism sector emerges as an opportunity for the expansion of capital and coastal spaces are chosen for the development of enclaves, being the state of Quintana Roo through Cancun who encourages the creation of new sources of employment and economically boosts the region through 22,000 hotel rooms (FONATUR, 1982). Until the closing of statistics for 2017, the destination has 35,272 rooms and 100,986 hotel rooms are concentrated in the state (SEDETUR, 2019), along the coastline of the entity, but grouping the offer of goods and services in the north zone (Cancun, Holbox Isla Mujeres, Puerto Morelos, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen), destinations that together bring together 96.3% of the infrastructure dedicated to lodging.

10Once the conditions were conducive to the arrival of capital into the national territory, that is, that the State has achieved modifications to the legislation so that the investment arrives in the country and manages to privatize the means of production, and the rural sector is endowed of the necessary infrastructure (air and land connectivity; basic and sanitary services) to meet the needs of the economic sector and encourage economic growth in the region, capital has the conditions to establish itself as a way of life and begin its reproduction. In this sense, according to INEGI data (2019) 54.6% of the population is employed and of that total 56.3% is located in the informal sector, that is 30,929,372 Mexicans; In addition, 27% have a workday greater than 48 hours per week, as a result of the modifications in the Federal Labor Law (LFT), with which the labor force is subsumed to the conditions that capital requires for its expansion and permanence.

11Tourism in Mexico has become a national priority since the new millennium, as attributes such as currency generation and job creation are conferred, and as part of the enclosure actions, jobs have been precarious and relaxed under the protection of the LFT, whose modification was in 2012, which resulted in the construction of an informal sector for the production of wealth, since companies avoid paying benefits. In this sense, the tourist activity in Quintana Roo through the creation of underemployment served 17.1 million visitors, since the entity has 46.8% of its working population in informality (INEGI, August 14, 2019). In this way, outsourcing in Mexico is practiced in 72,842 companies, especially those of medium and large size, in which they add more than 2 million jobs (Román, November 12, 2019).

12This type of modifications to the law, in addition to the cost of living costs in relation to the property, has caused that the workers do not have access to a mortgage loan by the State or through bank loans since the lack of social security negatively affects the social development of the individual since the health and housing expenses have been transferred mainly. These capital savings have contributed to the insertion of Mexico into the neoliberal model with negative results for the society and positive for the market. In this way, the minority has taken advantage of the guidelines that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have demanded the application of the free market in the country, resulting in 17 Mexican businessmen having a fortune greater than 10,000 million dollars (Angels, March 5, 2019).

2. The history of unsustainability on Cozumel

13For twenty years, the Organized Civil Society has been constituted to be able to collaborate with the State in the construction of a tourist destination that walks towards sustainability. In this sense, in 1999 the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 1999) conducted in Cozumel (See Map 1) the Workshop on Sustainable Tourism Indicators for the Caribbean and Central America, where findings were reached by other important and that have remained on the local agenda, namely: a) drinking water and its availability; b) demographic limit for the conservation of natural resources; c) limit of tourists and hikers; d) degradation of the reefs; g) solid waste management; h) cost of living for the local inhabitant.

14As a result of the tourism policy linked to the development of tourism, the population of the state has multiplied by ten (Government of the State of Quintana Roo, (2001), due to the migratory effect derived from the employment offer and that the local population has not it managed to cover and was displaced to the south. Cozumel for 2004 had an economic spill of 170.9 million dollars via hikers and 225.7 million dollars by tourists, which leads to the questioning why promote an economic activity that represents 87% of the visitors but with an economic spill less than 45% and high environmental cost? (Anaya & Palafox, 2007).

15The effects of cruise tourism in addition to the international pressure for sustainable tourism and the conservation of common goods for future recreation resulted in the inclusion of Agenda 21 for Mexican tourism, which was included in the National Tourism Program 2001-2006 with the purpose of meeting the sectoral objective of promoting the sustainable development of tourism. In this sense, the primary actor of Agenda 21 is the municipality, since it adopts an agent role that directs the processes of change and liaison between local groups and elaborates a study that develops the system of sustainability indicators for tourism and its application in five Mexican destinations, among them, the island of Cozumel (SECTUR, 2003).

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Thus, on March 14, 2003, Agenda 21 is created for the municipality of Cozumel, in order to have a working group that develops a policy linked to sustainability from the municipal level, with the following actors: a) municipal government; b) private initiative; and c) social sector, but being a project without technical assistance and guidance, it becomes inoperable, in addition to the lack of economic support for its development (Palafox & Anaya, 2007).

17Three strategic objectives were created from the group meetings, namely:

• Strategic Objective 1. Build Agenda 21 for the municipality of Cozumel to promote its implementation;

• Strategic Objective 2. Create a legal instance with its own resources for the implementation of Agenda 21 for the municipality of Cozumel;

• Strategic Objective 3. Legitimize Agenda 21 for the municipality of Cozumel before the community (GMC, 2004).

18The lack of interest of the municipality resulted in the cancellation of the Agenda 21 group, the construction of a group that had resources to develop the projects linked to the strategic objectives was aimed at conducting research around the island's sustainability, but on everything that was a decentralized organism of the State with the purpose of having strength independent of the political changes and having a planning tool that the entity lacks so much (Palafox & Anaya, 2007).

19In 2011, the University for International Cooperation is hired, who together with the Cozumel Island Strategic Plan Foundation (FPE) prepare Agenda 21 Cozumel, the island by conducting workshops with the local social sectors, resulting in a) the installation of the Earth Charter of Cozumel; and b) the creation of the Local Sustainable Development Committee (GMC, 2011). Within the framework of the aspirations of the town is the return to quality tourism and not quantity, however, this desire is far from local and national tourism policy, which is linked to the massive attraction of capital, tourists and In 2017, the island received 4,829,009 visitors.

20Two years later, the municipality conducts the workshop on identifying priorities in the sustainability of Cozumel Island as a destination, this workshop was promoted by the Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative (MARTI) and the Intersectoral Group (GI) organization who developed a rapid diagnosis on the sustainability of the destination, this study was developed by MARTI and the consultant Sustainable Travel International (STI) with resources from the H. City Council of Cozumel (Novedades Quintana Roo, February 14, 2013).

21At the same time, SECTUR (2013) creates the Competitiveness Agenda of the Cozumel Tourist Destination, where tourism sustainability is a central section of the document and where the themes are mentioned: wastewater; drainage and sewerage; beach erosion and overpopulation. The wastewater treatment infrastructure is at the limit of its capabilities and the hydraulic system of the insula is exceeded in capacity, resulting in continuous flooding in areas of high population density. Finally, beach erosion has been inevitable despite having 17 beaches certified by the Clean Beaches Program.

22In May 2014, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) delivered to the Cozumel City Council the Participatory Sustainable Tourism Plan of Cozumel Island, which aims to promote governance through the creation of spaces and management collective that promotes investment (UNESCO, 2014). With this plan, the municipal government aligned itself with state and national provisions regarding sustainable tourism, so the role that the municipality would play was to facilitate and bind economic actors through the following: a) improve hotel profitability; b) increase the arrival and expenditure of visitors; c) raise occupancy levels, and d) position Cozumel in the tourist markets.

23Likewise, UNESCO created the Program on Man and the Biosphere (MaB), this intergovernmental scientific program seeks to create the basis for the long-term foundation of the improvement of relations between people and the environment. In March 2016, UNESCO declares the creation of the Cozumel Island Biosphere Reserve, and within the framework of the diagnosis for its categorization, the following problems are highlighted: a) the island's aquifer, the only source of freshwater; b) poorly planned coastal development; c) loss of biodiversity; and d) inconsistency of public policies (GMC, 2016).

24Finally in 2018, a new attempt is made to lead the island towards sustainable development that differs from the neo-liberal economic policy that permeates in most Nation-States. So the Center for Sustainable Tourism (CREST) ​​through the use of the criteria and methodology of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and the Marine and Coastal Tourism Strategy of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) made a diagnosis to identify the problems that avoid the sustainability of the island. The results were the following: a) lack of management and reduction of solid waste; b) lack of monitoring of water resources and actions that guarantee the use, safety and quality of water in the tourism sector; c) zero tourism development planning with a sustainable vision; d) low participation of organized civil society in tourism development; e) lack of sustainability standards; and f) wastewater management (GSTC, 2018). From this study, the German Cooperation Agency GIZ (2018) proposes the creation of a Destination Management Body (OGD) “apartidist and multisectoral that continues the sustainability policies developed in the last twenty years” (GIZ; 2018: 1)

25Despite the negative effects that tourism has brought on the community, both the State and capital promote destination management aimed at “increasing year after year the influx of people visiting Cozumel, seeking at all times to increase the entrance of currencies (MAR Network, 2019: 2). In this way, as a result of the studies carried out in some areas of the island, it is permeated that the ideal result is to have a tourist load capacity for the destination, proof of this are the last actions used in the closure of access to the reefs by the authority.

26The information shows a constant effort since 1999 in the creation of situational diagnoses of the tourist destination around the sustainability of the destination. The effort of organized civil society has been creative but inefficient since within the organizations are the owners of the means of production and this weakens the decision making that directly affects the economic interests of capital, a situation that permeates until political sphere when the owners of the means of production take possession of public offices, in this way the Local Tourist Local Groups are formed on Cozumel (Palafox, 2010).

27The problem has been detected for more than twenty years, the actions have been in some cases remedial, but attention to the origin of the problem is far from promoting sustainable tourism development in Cozumel because capital is transformed for its permanence, since consumption is the basis of the mode of production and, once resources are depleted, capital will transfer its means of production to other spaces, where the pristine landscape allows its reproduction to continue; Under this premise, Mexico expects a figure of 47 million foreign tourists to be reached in 2020 (Reyna, January 17, 2020).

3. Cozumel facing the challenge of being a sustainable destination

28“Today, tourism shapes our societies, it has become one of the main agents of globalization” (Cañada & Murray, 2019: 7). The island of Cozumel has transformed its landscape to satisfy a market that is far from contributing to the economic development of the town, that is, cruise tourism, since according to the latest official figures published by SEDETUR (2018), in in 2017, 364.7 million US dollars were collected due to the arrival of more than 4 million hikers, in contrast, the arrival of international tourists was 739,518 who left an economic spill of 397.8 million US dollars, the substantial difference is that the tourist represents only 15.2%, thus contributing a greater number of currencies and contributing to a wide portfolio of jobs in different sectors (lodging, food, among others).

30Therefore, financially, Cozumel is a paradise for the international shipping sector, due to the income flow generated by being the destination with the highest foreign exchange input but with the lowest salary payment in the world (CLIA, 2018). In this sense, the sustainability flag of the main shipping company in the world is responsible for the socio-environmental deterioration of the island, by omitting labor stability conditions for business partners and allowing the receiving community to have the need to accept precarious conditions of employment that do not assure you a promising future.

31Thus, the question arises as to why deteriorate the purchasing power of the population, if capital feeds on consumption?, The foregoing has generated a wide inequality between the owners of the means of production and the labor force, so that 1% of the world's population owns 99% of economic resources (OXFAM, 2017). An example of how capitals have been grouped together and serve to exemplify the above figures is Carlos Slim who controls 70% of mobile phone services in Mexico (Idem). This accumulation model is clearly visualized and replicated, where six billionaire Mexicans group the wealth of 62.5 million of those living in poverty (Villanueva, January 21, 2020). Therefore, the breadth of the inequality gap remains an unavoidable challenge, since it continues to increase, given that the conditions of the economic model are transformed to perpetuate the accumulation.

32The above is not exempt for the tourism sector and these practices gave rise to the so-called International Tourism Groups (Palafox, 2010), therefore this monopolizing phenomenon is an important challenge for the cruise industry, since Carnival Cruise Line (Carnival, Costa, P&O, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, AIDA, Cunard, and Seabourn) has more than 100 ships, since the Caribbean market represents 34.4% of global demand (CLIA, 2019).

3360% of the world's population sits on the coast, this generates significant pressure on access to water, in addition to tourism development, which prefers the coastal landscape for its ability to generate interest in the traveler market, for what water is not only used for the purpose of vital continuity but also for recreation. In this sense, “in most of the coastal areas of Mexico, there are factors that affect water quality, such as storm drains, treated wastewater discharges, irregular settlements that do not have sanitation and sewage infrastructure, vessels and trade activities. informal ”(Cervantes-Martínez, Gutiérrez-Aguirre & Álvarez-Legorreta, 2015: 62). Therefore, the Laguna Colombia that is located in the South Point of the territory inside the Punta Celarain State Ecological Park [Punta Sur Eco-Tourist Park], despite observing high transparency and apparent possibility of recreational use, “it was found that it exceeds the maximum permissible limits in the concentration of nutrients according to the ecological criteria for the protection of marine aquatic life […] therefore its recreational use of direct contact or for human consumption is not recommended ”(Idem: 79).

34Likewise, access to drinking water and residential sewerage was a commitment made by the country, regarding the Millennium Development Goals “in reducing by half by 2015 the percentage of people who do not have sustainable access to drinking water and services basic sanitation ”(UN, 2011: 11). In this sense, the island had 96% of its population with access to drinking water (Rojas, Frausto, Tun & Ihl, 2012), however, Koch et al. (2016, 2017) state that the island has areas with high poverty and marginalization rates themselves that do not have access to electricity, drinking water and sanitation services, in addition to having a significant level of fecal and drug contamination, as well as pesticides and herbicides in the wells where the community extracts water. The data obtained allow us to affirm that the limits established by the Mexican norm have been exceeded so that the locality is in sanitary risk, in addition to the high salinity and turbidity (CONAGUA, August 21, 2019), so that in the long term, the tourism sector will begin to be affected.

35This contamination has its origin in sewage and human organic waste, the proximity of this irregular area with the supply wells of the Potable Water and Sewerage Commission (CAPA) in Cozumel are at risk of filtration, so It requires attention in the short term. Addressing the problem of water quality is imperative for an island where the only liquid reserve space is the aquifer (Hernández-Flores, Cervantes-Martínez, Aguirre-Gutiérrez & Frausto-Martínez, 2019), and in that space, There is also the saltwater of the Caribbean Sea, so the lack of a strategy that addresses the sustainable management of freshwater requires special attention from the State since it is estimated that 104,263 people daily require basic services including drinking water (Frausto, 2018).

36The third challenge comes in solid waste management, the excess in their generation is associated with the capitalist mode of production based on the excessive use of goods and services, thus creating new consumption patterns, in addition to the high population concentration (Gran & Bernache, 2016). The lack of information on the collection, disposal, and recycling of waste, both from the urban population and from the waste derived from cruise tourism, causes the lack of public policies that address the island's problems since according to the State Program of Prevention and Integral Management of Waste (SEDUMA, 2009), the island generates 1.28 kg/hab/day figure above what was predicted by SEMARNAT (2008) for the year 2020 that would be 1.06 kg/hab/day, as well as above the state average of 0.87 kg/hab/day (SEDUMA, 2009).

37Both the State and the academy provide figures that do not match, far from each other, in this regard, Steenbeck (2016) developed a particular study for the irregular settlement called “Las Fincas”, said work estimated the generation of 73.66 kg/hab/year of the which only 29.6% would be used for compost; however, the lack of information persists in the rest of the urban and rural area of the island, as well as information regarding cruise tourism is inaccessible by the company that has the concession for the collection service.

38Cozumel is far from being a sustainable destination, the implementation of capital accumulation strategies for the consolidation of Local Tourist Groups does not allow the establishment of actions that reduce consumption, that is, why not receive fewer cruise passengers and more tourists that cause a greater expense? the answer is in the question of who is immersed in the management of cruise tourism? These interest groups have found in the labor force and raw material, two of the four cheap ones mentioned by Moore (2002), however, the commodification of nature for the development of tourism has led to having to face in the short Term three major challenges: a) the stability of the workforce; b) access to drinking water, and c) solid waste management.

Final considerations

39The challenges facing Cozumel are clearly defined; Since 2003, no group has been formed with the desired political-financial independence that is the fence that resists the economic model's attacks, nor is the constitution envisaged in the medium term, despite the most recent effort made by GIZ in alliance with the municipal government in 2018, as a result of the recommendation made by CREST, which has not reported any progress in its creation.

The local government is also a victim of the model since in its public finances it does not report greater benefit from cruise tourism and if it carries the effects of more than four million visitors a year on waste saturation, impact on water (drinking and residual) and job insecurity. The inactivity of the government becomes inexplicable unless it is a complicit silence, which allows the degradation of what to take care of, in exchange for the approval of the GTL.

40The route that Cozumel Island has followed, reported in the last 2 decades, leaves no doubt about the destination it will reach. Natural resources are already being rationalized generating an increase in them. The way of life accentuates inequality and poverty continues to advance, leaving the fate of the residents to the will of the decisions of foreign entrepreneurs, regional partners, and local authorities. As long as the government and local businesses remain willing to provide all the facilities to the shipping companies to continue maximizing profits, life in Cozumel will continue along the same route. The day that will change, the consequences could be catastrophic because of the level of dependence they have given us.

41It continues depending on a market, a product, a transnational. The destination has the challenge of remaining for the well-being of its inhabitants, it is necessary to pay attention to the challenges that have been evident and strengthen the OGD, with the purpose of moving towards sustainability that allows social actors to start making decisions towards a Deglobalization of the economy and begin to strengthen the region, in addition to recognizing that the neoliberal economic model dictated by the Washington Consensus by turning Mexico and Latin America into an asymmetric space in the social, economic and ecological aspects.