Monday, October 13, 2025

AMLO faults former Fonatur chief for Maya Train delay

President López Obrador admitted Tuesday that the Maya Train railroad project is behind schedule and blamed the former head of the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur) for the delays.

Speaking at his regular news conference, López Obrador asserted that Rogelio Jiménez Pons, who as Fonatur director had responsibility for the US $8 billion railway, had not sufficiently applied himself to the project.

The president removed Jiménez from the position earlier this month and replaced him with Javier May, the former welfare minister.

“We need to finish these [government infrastructure] projects and we need responsible people who are completely committed, who don’t stop for anything and who fully apply themselves,” López Obrador said.

“In order to carry out a project, a manager and permanent, constant supervision is needed,” he said.

Rogelio Jimenez Pons
The president removed Jiménez from the position earlier this month and replaced him with Javier May, the former welfare minister.

“… We have a commitment to the transformation of the country. … We can be really fond of a person, but if that person, this person [Jiménez], doesn’t apply himself, isn’t enthusiastic, doesn’t have sufficient convictions, doesn’t internalize that we’re living in a historic time, a stellar moment in the public life of Mexico, an interesting time, and he’s thinking that it’s the same routine life of government, that everything is orthodox, … that the passage of time doesn’t matter, then he’s not understanding that a transformation is a profound change,” the president said.

He went on to praise army General Gustavo Vallejo and Energy Minister Rocío Nahle for their commitment to the new Mexico City airport, currently under construction north of the capital, and the Dos Bocas refinery, which is being built on the Tabasco coast.

Vallejo is at the Felipe Ángeles Airport “day and night” while Nahle “isn’t wasting time” at the refinery, López Obrador said. The airport will be finished on time in March, and the refinery will be completed as scheduled in July, he declared.

With May now overseeing the Maya Train railroad – which will run through Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas – the project will be inaugurated in December 2023 even if obstacles emerge, AMLO pledged.

“… We’re grateful for what Rogelio did,” he said, despite his earlier rebuke. “He left the route open, cleared the path, but what we need now is more action.”

With reports from Reforma 

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
A giant 2026 World Cup ball was installed at the Terminal 2 entrance of the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) this week.

Mexico’s week in review: CIBanco collapse and Banamex bid shake financial sector

0
Other headlines included several positive developments in the Sheinbaum administration's fight against violent crime and tax evasion.
News quiz

The MND News Quiz of the Week: October 11th

1
Lemon Pie, licensed tequila and lost beaches: Have you been paying attention to the news this week?
trash

Mexico City’s new waste management strategy will require trash separation starting Jan. 1

2
The plan seeks to get 50% of the city's waste either recycled or reused, an ambitious goal given that only 15% of the capital's 6,400 tonnes of daily trash is separated correctly.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity