During the 80s and 90s in Mexico there was a boost in participatory strategies developed, in order to solve serious deficiencies in community development programmes and projects. The mere existence of such methodologies, "per se," does not guarantee the conscious and voluntary participation of rural inhabitants. The social energy mobilisation of the rural communities poses a great demand on those who monitor or implement participatory strategies: they have to take into consideration, among others, the preservation of the existing information about the community; the historical and subjective construction of the communities; respect for the existing structure and organisational forms; the specificity of the proposed objectives and their close relationship with specific operational strategies; and, respect for the time and pace of the communities, as well as the time, pace and movement of the organisational processes within these communities. (Contains 1 note.)