Municipal and state security officials are investigating an incident in which at least 10 Michoacán state and Morelia municipal police officers were caught on video at a house party last weekend where a gun was fired into the air.
The 20-second video was recorded at night and not clear. But what was on the video was enough for municipal and state authorities to launch their own separate investigations.
Michaocán police said they had identified one of their female employees in the video.
Morelia Mayor Raúl Morón Orozco said he had instructed the police to open an internal investigation into the video.
Any officers found to be involved in the incident would be sanctioned according to municipal regulations, he said.
In the video, which shows what appears to be a small house party, multiple people dressed in what appear to be police uniforms are seen drinking and dancing inside a house. Later in the video, men in civilian clothes who Morelia security officials have identified as municipal police officers are seen on a patio outside.
One of them shoots a pistol into the air three times in the general direction of a street. A municipal police car can be seen parked in the background.
Festival-goers enjoy a previous, pre-Covid Art With Me event.
The organizers of a multi-day festival in Tulum, Quintana Roo, last month — described as a coronavirus superspreading event — have issued an apology.
In a statement to CNN, the organizers of the Art With Me festival said they regretted “not canceling the event entirely.”
Numerous cases of the coronavirus were detected in both Mexico and the United States among people who attended the November 11-15 festival or had contact with someone who did.
The event, which organizers describe as “an international arts, music and cultural festival curated to inspire us to be more connected to ourselves,” published recommendations on its website to prevent the spread of the virus but many attendees ignored them.
Video footage of nighttime parties at hotels, restaurants and cenotes (natural sinkholes) in Tulum show hundreds of maskless people dancing in close proximity to each other.
Marlene Góngora, a 40-year-old Mexican lawyer who attended the festival, told CNN that the risk of infection was far from her mind while she was enjoying the event.
“When people are gathering in front of the DJ, it’s obvious that nobody is wearing a mask because you are at the beach. At that moment, when you’re at a party, you’re not thinking of contagion,” she said.
The festival organizers said they cooperated with authorities to develop health measures that included temperature checks upon entry to venues, the distribution of face masks and their mandatory use “in certain areas.”
But “we learned that we cannot control people from adhering to guidelines, or staying away from other venues in the area that did not adhere to our standards,” they said.
“We stand behind our protocols and are grateful to the Mexican government for their incredible cooperation. However, in the end, we regret not canceling the event entirely. We apologize for any strain this may have caused our already overtaxed healthcare system and front line workers, and we hope others might learn from our experience.”
As of Tuesday, only 311 confirmed coronavirus cases had been detected in the municipality of Tulum compared to more than 7,000 in Benito Juárez, which includes the Quintana Roo resort city of Cancún.
In Tulum, festivals are permitted to have gatherings of up to 300 people
Tulum Mayor Víctor Mas told CNN that up to 300 people are permitted to attend events in the municipality as long as venue capacity limits are adhered to. That allowed the organizers of Art With Me to hold the festival at five venues across Tulum, he said.
Tulum Hotel Association president David Ortiz Mena said that the owners of local hotels, which hosted some of the Art With Me events and accommodated attendees, agreed to comply with coronavirus restrictions including limits on restaurant and bar capacity.
However, he acknowledged that the rules were not always followed.
“Sadly, even though efforts were made both by the organizers of the event and the local government, this event clearly got out of hand,” Ortiz said. “I think the attendees to the event also have a responsibility. Clearly, people are not taking care of themselves.”
The hotel association chief said he was concerned that large events such as Art With Me, and the surrounding negative media coverage, could have an adverse effect on the broader tourism industry in Tulum.
“I think it’s one thing to have tourism, to have our beaches open, to have people visiting Tulum. But … if you do this type of event, it really puts us all at risk, not just the visitors, but our staff, the people who live here,” Ortiz said.
“And at the end of the day, not just human lives, but also the economy. People are supposed be able to make a living and there’s no excuse to put us all at risk. We should avoid this at all cost.”
Another multi-day festival, Zamna, is scheduled to go ahead in Tulum on New Year’s Eve but Mayor Mas said that it and other large events won’t be permitted unless the coronavirus risk level drops to green light “low.”
Skulls discovered in the Huei Tzompantli in what is now Mexico City. pau/inah
Archaeologists have discovered 119 human skulls in an Aztec tower located within a historic building near the Templo Mayor archaeological site in Mexico City.
The federal Ministry of Culture said that archaeologists with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) found the extreme eastern side and the facade of the Huei Tzompantli, an almost five-meter-diameter circular skull tower that was dedicated to the war, sun and human sacrifice deity Huitzilopochtli and dates back to the final years of the 1400s and first years of the 16th century.
The discovery of the 119 skulls was made in March while the INAH was supervising renovation work on the historic building, located on a street behind the metropolitan cathedral and next to the Templo Mayor, the main temple of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán. Other sections of the tower, including 484 skulls, were first discovered in 2017.
“The Huei Tzompantli is without a doubt one of the most impressive archaeological discoveries in our country in recent years,” said Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto. “It’s an important testimony to the power and greatness achieved by México-Tenochtitlán.”
Rodrigo Bolaños Martínez, an INAH physical anthropologist in charge of conducting an analysis of the recently-discovered craniums, said that the skulls of men, women and at least three children were among them.
Raúl Barrera Rodríguez, the head of INAH’s urban archaeology program, and Lorena Vázquez Vallín, who led the team that discovered the skull tower, said it’s likely that some of the people whose craniums form part of the Huei Tzompantli were killed as a sacrifice to the gods.
“Although we can’t say how many of these individuals were warriors, perhaps some were captives destined for sacrificial ceremonies,” Barrera said.
“We do know that they were all made sacred, turned into gifts for the gods or even personifications of deities themselves,” he said.
Barrera said that human sacrifices were carried out daily in Mesoamerica as an offering to the gods. The objective was to ensure the renewal of nature and “the continuity of life itself,” he said.
The practice shocked and instilled fear in the Spanish conquistadores led by Hernán Cortés, who conquered Tenochtitlán in 1521.
According to the Culture Ministry statement, the conquistadores witnessed numerous sacrifice ceremonies at seven tzompantli (skull racks) that were known to exist in the sacred precinct of the Aztec capital.
López Obrador was one of the last world leaders to congratulate Biden, left.
President López Obrador has finally congratulated Joe Biden on his win in last month’s United States presidential election after the U.S. Electoral College affirmed the former vice president’s victory.
“I write this text to congratulate you for the triumph the people bestowed on you and which has been confirmed by the electoral authorities of the United States of America,” López Obrador wrote in a two-page letter to the president-elect that was dated December 14 but not released until Tuesday.
Unlike the vast majority of world leaders, AMLO, as the president is best known, decided not to congratulate Biden after the U.S. media called the race for him days after the election was held.
Speaking four days after the November 4 election, López Obrador said that he would wait until U.S. President Donald Trump’s legal challenges were resolved before offering his congratulations to the successful candidate, explaining that he didn’t want to be “imprudent.”
Along with Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, AMLO was among a small group of leaders who didn’t immediately congratulate Biden after the media declared his victory.
Some analysts said López Obrador’s objective was not to offend Trump, with whom he has maintained a friendly relationship, given that the U.S. president still had time to enact policies that could hurt Mexico. AMLO’s own experience in challenging the results of presidential elections he lost (2006 and 2012) was also seen as a factor in his decision to wait.
In his letter to Biden, López Obrador noted that they first met nine years ago, recalling he had told him personally and in writing about his aspiration to transform Mexico and eradicate political corruption, which he described as “the main cause of the painful inequality and violence we suffer.”
AMLO wrote that Mexico and the United States are linked by their proximity to each other and that “our people are united by history, the economy and culture.”
“The leaders must thus strive to maintain good bilateral relations based on collaboration, friendship and respect for our sovereignty,” he wrote.
But there was also what could be construed as a subtle warning.
“We are certain that with you as president of the United States it will be possible to continue applying the basic principles of foreign policy established in our constitution, especially that of non-intervention and [the right] to people’s self-determination,” López Obrador wrote.
AMLO thanked Biden for his “position in favor of the migrants from Mexico and the world,” expressing confidence that the incoming U.S. president will support the continuation of the development plan for southeastern Mexico and Central American nations.
“In this way, I believe that nobody will be forced to abandon their place of origin and will be able to live, work and be happy with their family among their people and culture,” he wrote.
“In that way we will manage to build the definitive solution to migratory flows from and through Mexico to the United States. I hope that soon, Mr. Biden, the opportunity presents itself to speak about this and other issues,” López Obrador said before signing off his letter to the president-elect with “warm regards.”
AMLO has managed to maintain a largely friendly relationship with Trump despite the U.S. president’s occasionally aggressive rhetoric toward Mexico.
Trump declared that he had an “outstanding” relationship with AMLO and, in an apparent reference to the Mexican government’s deployment of the National Guard to block migrants’ path to the United States, thanked him for stopping the flow of asylum seekers to the two countries’ shared border.
Municipal headquarters of San Lorenzo Texmelucan, whose citizens are accused of terrorizing residents of a neighboring municipality.
A dispute over territory has been terrorizing multiple families in tiny southwestern Oaxaca communities who say their homes have been burned down or they’ve been given two weeks to abandon the land they’ve lived on for a century.
The 10 remote communities that are part of the municipality of Villa Sola de Vega and are made up of 10–15 families say they have been living in fear for two months, and all point to one source of that fear: armed gangs of residents from the nearby municipality of San Lorenzo Texmelucan, who claim that the land belongs to them thanks to an agrarian court decision.
The small community of El Sargento was targeted first, the victims say. Armed groups burned down their houses, forcing them to flee. The latest aggression happened on December 8, when residents of Santa Caterina La Cañada say an armed gang arrived in the community, threatened the local police officer and his family and told him to inform the town’s residents they all had 15 days to evacuate, prompting some residents to leave town the next day.
Residents in the community of El Anis say they have received the same ultimatum.
Those who remain in the 10 communities say they live in fear of being chased out at any point. Some told the newspaper El Universal that they would be willing to acquiesce to legal claims to the land by San Lorenzo Texmelucan residents if those claims were backed with documents.
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The communities, which are rural, remote, and sparsely occupied, are located far from the municipal seat in Sola de Vega, which residents feel leaves them without law enforcement. Some say they do not believe the municipal government cares about what is going on and have petitioned the federal government for a resolution and to bring in the National Guard to protect them.
It would not be the first time that the federal government has had to intervene in the area. In 2006, a federal agrarian court ruling regarding a land dispute between San Lorenzo Texmelucan and another municipality in the same area, Santo Domingo Tojomulco, noted that a violent dispute between the two entities had lasted nearly two years and had resulted in several deaths in both communities, forcing the federal government to intervene and mediate.
A Senate document in 2009 noted that the two communities had been fighting over the land as far back as 1935.
Two years ago, Hermilo Ríos, a member of the Sola de Vega municipal council who represented the communities, was killed. He had been heavily involved in trying to find resolutions to the ongoing issue.
A man prepares a cross to mark the grave of Dulce María, whose body was never claimed after she was found dead on a Tijuana sidewalk.
A young girl whose body was found in a cooler in August was saved from being buried in an anonymous, communal grave after residents of the Tijuana neighborhood where she was found banded together to give her a more dignified resting place.
The girl, who authorities say was between 5 and 10 years old when she died, was buried Monday in one of Tijuana’s public cemeteries with a funeral attended by residents of El Pípila neighborhood and by the director of a local orphanage.
“I came because I have a son about her age,” said Aurora, a woman of about 50 who arrived at the burial with her 6-year-old son Aaron in tow. “Nobody deserves to die alone, completely unknown, least of all a creature so young,” she said as she and her son held flowers and a drawing Aaron had made to be buried with the girl.
Dulce María, as she was dubbed by residents after being found dead on August 30, was discovered inside an abandoned cooler on a sidewalk in El Pípila. Although authorities at first said they detected signs of violence, forensic experts later confirmed that she showed no signs of mistreatment, but instead there were indications of cerebral palsy and she had died of pulmonary sepsis.
The body remained unclaimed at a forensic facility for nearly four months while police, who made clear that they were not treating the case as a homicide, waited to see if anyone would come for her.
The service for Dulce María.
No one ever did, and so the unidentified girl was destined to be buried in a communal grave.
However, El Pípila residents decided that this would not stand. Working with a local orphanage, they contacted forensic authorities and asked to be allowed custody of the girl’s body for a funeral and the proper burial they felt she deserved. Authorities agreed and delivered her body to residents Monday.
Liliana Camacho, director of the Casa Hogar Sonrisa de Ángeles orphanage, gave a eulogy, saying that what had happened to her was not her fault, and that her life, however short, would be an example to others. Camacho said that in the girl’s short period on Earth, she had left behind a legacy: her life had inspired a community to come together.
Monreal, left, author of the bill and Salinas, the only banker who would benefit from the measure.
The lower house of Congress has postponed debate and a vote on controversial legislation that would force the central bank to buy up all foreign cash that commercial banks can’t trade or sell abroad.
The Senate passed the bill last Wednesday and lower house lawmakers were expected to debate the bill and put it to a vote on Tuesday, the final sitting day of the year.
A vote is now expected during the first sitting period of 2021 in February. The decision to postpone the vote came after the bill attracted heavy criticism, even from the Bank of México itself.
The ruling Morena party says the objective of the legislation is to ensure that migrants can send remittances home in cash and their family members can exchange US dollars at a fair exchange rate at banks. It also says it would help tourism sector workers who often receive tips in dollars.
But critics say that it could force the Bank of México to buy cash obtained by drug cartels and other criminal organizations via illegal means. That could have an adverse effect on the central bank’s relations with its counterparts abroad, and foreign countries could impose restrictions on the entire Mexican banking sector.
There is also concern that the legislation violates the bank’s autonomy.
Ricardo Monreal, the leader of Morena in the Senate and the main proponent of the bill, announced the establishment of a working group to discuss the legislation in the first weeks of 2021 prior to a February vote. He said that representatives from both houses of Congress, the Finance Ministry and the Bank of México will participate in the group.
Monreal said Sunday that such a group should be formed to look at ways in which the bill can be improved.
The senator has rejected any suggestion that the law undermines the central bank’s autonomy.
Morena’s leader in the lower house, Ignacio Mier, said on Twitter Tuesday afternoon that he had proposed the creation of a working group with the participation of all sectors that are affected by the legislation: “the Bank of México, financial institutions and 30 million migrants.”
Some dialogue between lawmakers and stakeholders has already taken place, and the latter’s opinions of the bill have been overwhelmingly negative.
Finance Minister Herrera: more technical and profound discussion required.
Bank of México Governor Alejandro Díaz de León told the Chamber of Deputies’ finance committee that if the legislation is approved, the whole cash management “ecosystem” would be compromised for the benefit of one financial institution that is having trouble offloading foreign cash.
He didn’t name the institution but media reports indicated that he was referring to Banco Azteca, owned by billionaire businessman Ricardo Salinas, who is regarded as a close ally of President López Obrador.
Members of the finance committee discussed the bill for more than three hours on Monday with representatives of the Association of Mexican Banks (ABM) and foreign banks.
The bankers warned there was a possibility that the central bank might be forced to buy ill-gotten cash and said that it could come under audit by foreign banks as a result. They also said the United States Department of Justice could seek to intervene if the Bank of México was seen to be violating international treaties by buying up foreign cash obtained illicitly.
“This could lead to the freezing of [central bank] reserves. … There is no precedent in the world of a central bank having that type of risk,” said Héctor Grisi, executive chairman of Santander.
ABM president Carlos Rojo proposed entering into bilateral discussions with the United States to seek a solution to the excess foreign cash problem, which according to the Bank of México is not a significant one.
While there are anti-money laundering laws here and elsewhere in the world, they are not foolproof, he said.
Emilio Romano, head of the Bank of America in Mexico, said the bill’s proposal has already caused uncertainty in global markets. He said the legislation is not an ideal solution to the excess cash problem because it places a burden on an institution – the central bank – that is essential to financial stability.
Romano suggested a better alternative could be found via dialogue between the Bank of México, the Finance Ministry, the United States Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The rating agency Moody’s said in a report that if the bill passes the lower house of Congress and becomes law, there will be a negative impact on Mexico’s sovereign rating and economic stability will be undermined.
Finance Minister Arturo Herrera weighed in on Tuesday, saying that postponing congressional debate on the bill to allow external dialogue was the right decision.
He said it was clear that the implications of the legislation had not been analyzed.
“As has just been made public, deputies postponed debate of the Bank of México law. We think they have taken the appropriate step to provide space for a more technical and profound discussion,” Herrera wrote on Twitter.
“One fact for discussion: about 99.3% of all remittances already go through the banking system [via electronic transfers]. This is the route that we must keep operating so that they continue to arrive quickly, safely and at a low cost.”
That remark, as the Bank of México has been saying all along, recognizes that problems associated with exchanging cash remittances from migrants is not as significant an issue as Morena has been making it out to be.
The federal government told Interjet workers on Monday that it won’t take control of the beleaguered airline as requested by the employees’ union last week.
An employee who spoke to the newspaper Milenio said that he and his colleagues were informed of the decision at a meeting with officials at the Interior Ministry.
Section 15 of the Mexican Workers Confederation asked the government last Friday to requisition Interjet, saying that leaving the airline in the hands of its new owners poses a threat to national security, the economy and the public interest.
Interjet has faced a slew of problems this year – among which have been cash flow shortages and flight cancelations – and owes some 4,000 workers six fortnightly salary payments known as quincenas.
Employees say that under the administration of its current owners – the most prominent of whom is businessman Alejandro del Valle – the airline is at risk of bankruptcy.
If it were to file for bankruptcy, the government would lose 7 billion pesos (US $352 million) in unpaid taxes and and 350 million pesos in payments to the Mexican Social Security Institute and the National Workers Housing Fund, according to the workers.
A meeting between government officials, del Valle and airline workers is expected to take place early next week at the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board.
Another issue surfaced today for the troubled airline. Ex-employees have filed 50 claims against Interjet for unpaid severance amounting to 11 million pesos. Employees who were dismissed as far back as March say they have not been paid any of the money they are owed.
The severance payments range from 100,000 to 400,000 pesos.
Meanwhile, problems continue to plague operations this week.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) suspended Interjet’s participation in its billing and settlement plan, which facilitates the sale and issuing of airline tickets through an IATA affiliated network of travel agents, while the carrier’s planes have been grounded in recent days and are not likely to fly again until Friday.
The newspaper El Financiero said it had access to Interjet’s flight schedule and that the airline intended to cancel all of its flights on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. A total of 56 flights were to be canceled during the three-day period due to “operational needs.”
At least two flight scheduled for Friday were also set to be canceled but some services were expected to go ahead that day.
Interjet has canceled more than 100 flights in recent weeks, apparently due to a lack of money to purchase fuel for its aircraft.
But a worker told El Financiero that the airline is having trouble finding crew for its planes because many employees aren’t going to work because of the three months’ worth of salaries they are owed and the unkept promises of del Valle to pay them.
The worker also said the airline has had to transfer maintenance staff from the Mexico City airport to the Cancún airport because employees at the latter are not currently working.
Interjet’s workforces at other airports, including those in Mexico City and Guadalajara, are diminished because employees have decided not to show up due to uncertainty about when or if they will be paid.
With demand for air travel still low due to the coronavirus pandemic, it is improbable that the airline’s fortunes will turn around any time soon, making bankruptcy a more likely near-term scenario than recovery.
Doña Gabina's family were unable to find her a bed before she died on Monday.
Hospitals in Mexico City and neighboring México state are currently treating more coronavirus patients than at any other time of the pandemic, and many are completely full or close to capacity.
There were 4,598 coronavirus patients in Mexico City hospitals on Monday, 45 more than the previous peak recorded on May 22. The occupancy rate across the capital’s health system is 66% but numerous hospitals are at, or very close to, 100% capacity.
Among those that are completely full are the IMSS Villa Coapa and Tlatelolco hospitals and the National Institute of Respiratory Illnesses.
A 69-year-old woman died on Monday after she was unable to access a bed with a ventilator at the La Raza National Medical Center in the capital’s north end. Doña Gabina passed away en route to a provisional medical facility set up at the Hermanos Rodríguez speedway, the newspaper Milenio reported.
In México state, which includes many municipalities that are part of the greater Mexico City metropolitan area, there were 2,399 coronavirus patients in hospital on Monday, 115 more than the previous high recorded on June 3. Hospital occupancy in the state has increased more than 30% over the past four weeks.
Statewide occupancy of general care beds is currently 71% while 53% of those with ventilators are in use.
However, several México state healthcare facilities are completely full, including the IMSS hospitals in the Valley of México municipalities of Tlalnepantla and Nezahualcóyotl.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum acknowledged the gravity of the situation in the capital and surrounding metropolitan area, saying that all citizens need to follow the coronavirus rules in place in order to slow the spread of the virus and reduce the number of hospital patients.
“How are we going to achieve it? Only with the participation of everyone,” she told a virtual press conference.
Sheinbaum blamed a recent rise in case numbers and hospitalizations on a relaxation of compliance with coronavirus rules last month, saying that people started holding parties and gathering in large numbers.
The mayor said that there is evidence from other cities around the world that shows that parties were the main factor in case numbers increasing. She urged people to stay at home, keep a safe distance from others and not hold parties.
Estimated active cases by state as of Monday night. milenio
However, anyone who wishes to hold a party is welcome to do so as far as some Mexico City bars are concerned. The newspaper Milenio contacted four bars on Monday and was able to make reservations for celebrations beginning at 11:00 p.m. on Friday and wrapping up at 5 the next morning.
One of the bars contacted by Milenio said capacity limits were not a problem. “… we’ll adjust the number of tables depending on the number of people who come.”
Bars have been prohibited from opening since November 20. Restaurants are supposed to close at 10 p.m. and alcohol service is not permitted after 7 p.m.
Asked about the possibility of a lockdown, Sheinbaum said that forcing businesses to close would not stop new infections. She highlighted the importance of Covid-19 testing to identify and isolate positive cases and “stop the chain of infections.”
President López Obrador called on Mexicans across the country to stay at home as much as possible during the 10 days leading up to Christmas.
“Everyone has to help – let’s take care of ourselves because in that way we’ll avoid more infections [as well as] the saturation of hospitals. … We’re increasing hospital capacity but we don’t want people to get sick or lose their lives,” he said.
Meanwhile, the nation’s coronavirus case tally and death toll continue to mount.
The federal Health Ministry reported 5,930 new cases on Monday, increasing the accumulated tally to 1,255,974. The Covid-19 death toll rose by 345 to 114,298.
Mexico City and México state rank first and second, respectively, for both confirmed cases and deaths.
The capital has recorded 264,330 cases and 19,084 Covid-19 fatalities while México state’s accumulated case tally is 125,628 and its death toll is 12,769.
The president and Víctor Manuel Toledo, one of three environment ministers who have left office.
For over two years now, I have shared with readers of the newspaper El Universal my reflections on Mexico’s environment.
During the presidential campaign I underscored how authorities at all levels have disregarded their environmental obligations, and how they have failed to appreciate the link and value of natural resources in tackling poverty. I argued that the religious faiths and publicly professed ethical values of all candidates and their political parties should compel them to protect nature.
I emphasized that the principal unresolved issue for the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the National Action Party — the political parties that have ruled our country for almost a century — was enforcement of the rule of law. President Vicente Fox neglected environmental institutions, president Felipe Calderón became obsessed with a costly and failed mammoth reforestation effort, and president Enrique Peña Nieto so politicized our public environmental institutions that he crippled them.
When Andrés Manuel López Obrador (popularly known as AMLO) won, my environmental expectations were raised. Raised because of his long path as a progressive social fighter, because he knows the country as no one else does, and because the environment has been a priority for other Latin American leftist presidents.
In Brazil, Lula da Silva protected the Amazon and supported the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Bolivia’s Evo Morales fought for Mother Earth’s rights, Chile’s Michelle Bachellet tripled renewable energy production, Uruguay’s José Mugica placed the environment at the center of his public policies, and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa echoed nature’s rights in a new constitution.
Although I must say that protecting nature (or not) has nothing to do with your right or left political leaning; it has more to do with common sense, intergenerational solidarity, and love and respect for life.
Thrilled with AMLO’s election, I asked myself: Would Mexico become an environmentalist country now that, for the first time in 84 years, since Lázaro Cárdenas, we have a leftist president? I studied the environmental part of AMLO´s platform, and his agenda for the nation.
It sounded positive and determined, but it was mostly what the issues were, not how to address them: “We will be at the forefront of freshwater pollution monitoring, our ecosystems will be healthy, we will live in cities with cleaner air, we will be leaders in combating climate change and in ensuring transparency, citizen participation, and environmental justice, and we will be a world example in environmental protection.”
I told myself that the administration was just beginning, that we all needed to be patient. I hoped that those environmentalists in AMLO´s cabinet would succeed in convincing him of the importance of protecting our land, water, oceans, biodiversity, and air.
I was wrong.
Over these last two years I have closely followed the government’s environmental discourse. I condemned the dismantling of environmental institutions such as the biodiversity, forest, and freshwater commissions, particularly the outrageous budget cut that all but annihilated the Natural Protected Areas Commission, an institution responsible for managing 182 protected areas and 91 million hectares that safeguard the rich natural resources and environmental services on which Mexico’s future depends.
CFE plants in Baja California Sur.
I underscored the need to assess, independently and transparently, the environmental and social impacts of the government´s mammoth projects such as the Maya Train. I highlighted that Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries for environmental defenders. And I supported what many experts are saying: the time of fossil fuels has come to an end and renewable energies will bring more affordable electricity, boost jobs, and improve the well-being of all Mexicans.
I wrote AMLO three open letters imploring him to put the well-being of Mexicans first over ideological differences and shortsighted economic benefits. I pointed out the connections between the environment and poverty, public health and food, energy, and water security and that the financial resources needed to protect the environment pale in comparison to what environmental devastation costs us —atmospheric pollution alone is killing 50,000 Mexicans annually.
I underscored that because of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero, Veracruz and Quintana Roo we are the world’s fourth most biodiverse country and that our mind-boggling natural and cultural richness attracts millions of visitors every year, from throughout the world, which represents nearly 9% of Mexico´s GDP — enough of a reason alone for being a conservation-wise nation!
Today, the government’s relationship with environmentalists has reached an all-time low. Science and scientists are reviled by those in power while the country’s once widely reputed science council, Conacyt, is in disarray and consumes itself in ideological battles. And after three ministers, the environmental ministry (Semarnat) wanders aimlessly, becoming alarmingly isolated from the other ministries.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, Congress (controlled by AMLO´s political party, Morena) recently all but eliminated financing in the federal 2021 budget for mitigation of greenhouse gases and adaptation to climate change.
The only environmental space in which Mexico has achieved some meaningful progress is the international arena, where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs keeps the country engaged in multilateral dialogues on climate adaptation and protecting oceans — efforts that, unfortunately, have little or no connection, nor influence, with national public policies.
Despite the lack of a government environmental agenda, I still grant President López Obrador the benefit of the doubt. As with millions of Mexicans, I keep hoping our president will change course. Not least because our Constitution mandates the right to a healthy environment and puts the responsibility upon the state to guarantee a sustainable future for all.
Omar Vidal, a scientist, was a university professor in Mexico, is a former senior officer at the UN Environment Program, and former director-general of the World Wildlife Fund–Mexico.
