<p>MEXICO CITY — Mexican environmental authorities said Tuesday the Caribbean resort of Tulum has authorized too much development, the latest blow to what was long considered one of Mexico’s most laid-back, easy-going resorts. </p>
<p>Unlike Cancún or Playa del Carmen, Tulum was long a quiet haven, best known for its Mayan temple that stands beside a Caribbean beach. But the resort has been expanding into the low jungle around it, and there have been numerous disputes over beach-side properties.</p>
<p>The federal Environment Department said Tulum had passed zoning codes that "change land uses to promote and permit urban growth and real estate development, with negative repercussions on ecosystems.”</p>
<p>It said the local zoning code was unacceptable, adding that cutting down of forested areas under the code would be considered illegal and that action would be taken against offenders.</p>
<p>The department also said it would seek to have the zoning code overturned.</p>
<p>In another blackeye, four Tulum police officers were ordered last week to stand trial after a Salvadoran woman died in custody. Days after her death, a foreign woman was wounded in a bar shooting in Tulum. </p>
<p>Over the weekend, authorities in Quintana Roo state relieved all Tulum police officers of their duties and sent them for re-training, saying they systematically violated restraint procedures. </p>
<p>Gov. Carlos Joaquin acknowledged that the woman’s death “did a lot of damage to Quintana Roo’s image.”</p>
<p>Victoria Esperanza Salazar died March 27 after a police woman was seen kneeling on her back as three male officers looked on. She had been reported acting agitated at a store.</p>
<p>Quintana Roo State Prosecutor Oscar Montes de Oca said an autopsy confirmed that Salazar’s broken neck “coincides with submission maneuvers applied to the victim during her detention” and demonstrated a disproportionate use of force by police.</p>
<p>The scene was reminiscent of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. Floyd was declared dead after a white police officer pressed his knee against the Black man’s neck for about nine minutes, holding his position even after Floyd went limp.</p>
