After presiding over a ceremony in Chetumal to mark the opening of the entire Maya Train railroad on Sunday, President Claudia Sheinbaum was back at the National Palace in Mexico City on Monday morning.
At her morning press conference, she continued to celebrate the completion of the 1,554-kilometer-long railroad, but also spoke about more somber issues including the murders of two high-profile men on the weekend.
Sheinbaum celebrates completion of Maya Train
“You can now buy a ticket for the entire route,” said Sheinbaum, who on Sunday inaugurated sections 6 and 7 of the Maya Train railroad.
Passengers can now complete a loop around the Yucatán Peninsula given that the sections linking Tulum, Quintana Roo, to Escárcega, Campeche, are open.
Sheinbaum told reporters that the government’s aim is to encourage tourists to “not just stay in their hotel in Cancún, which is very common” but to explore the wider region on the Maya Train.
She said that Maya Train hotels built by the army to provide additional accommodation options for passengers are truly “exceptional.”
The president noted that the government will begin construction in 2025 of “all the infrastructure needed for freight trains” to run on the now fully operational railroad.
“And the passenger train [service] has to be consolidated as well. … New trains are going to arrive, that was set out from the beginning, and some other adjustments [will be made],” Sheinbaum said.
“But today the entire route around the peninsula is operating,” she said. “… It really is an extraordinary project.”
High profile murders under investigation, more details to come on Tuesday
A reporter asked Sheinbaum about the murders over the weekend of the mayor of Tancanhuitz, San Luis Potosí, and the owner of a vineyard in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato.
The mayor, Jesús Eduardo Franco, was found dead along with three other murder victims in a vehicle in Tancanhuitz.
Ricardo Vega, the owner of the Cuna de Tierra vineyard, was shot and killed in the municipality of Apaseo el Grande, which borders the state of Querétaro as well as four municipalities in Guanajuato including Celaya and San Miguel de Allende.
Sheinbaum said that the federal government is in contact with state authorities about the cases.
“Tomorrow is the [fortnightly] security report and [security officials] will be able to give us more details then,” she said, adding that both cases are under investigation.
Creation of new Women’s Ministry to be formalized on Jan. 1
When she was asked whether the federal Women’s Ministry was “ready” for its formal inauguration on Jan. 1, Sheinbaum referred the question to her women’s minister.
“We’re ready,” declared Citlalli Hernández Mora.
“Citla is ready,” Sheinbaum acknowledged, adding that a “good team” is being built in the Women’s Ministry.
“We’re going to begin next year with the [distribution of the] women’s rights pamphlet,” the president added, noting that a range of rights for Mexican women are now enshrined in the Constitution.
Sheinbaum said in October that the government’s women’s rights pamphlet should be distributed to men as well as women because everyone needs to know about women’s rights.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
