The incense burner is similar to others found at the Maya site of Palenque in Chiapas. (INAH)
A cylindrical incense burner – believed to be around 1,300 years old – has been returned to the Mexican government by a U.S. citizen, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) reported on Monday.
An initial inspection of the object, found in central Texas, has revealed it is made of clay and is akin to others found in the ancient Maya city of Palenque, Chiapas, in southeastern Mexico. According to experts from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), it may date from A.D. 500-700.
Crystal Orlando (second from right) returned the artifact to the Mexican consulate in Austin, Texas. (INAH)
The artifact was found by Texan artist Crystal Orlando, who officially handed it over to the Mexican Consulate in Austin during a repatriation ceremony on Sunday.
According to the SRE, once the artifact arrives in Mexico, it will be handed over to the INAH for safeguarding, study, analysis and conservation.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration has prioritized the recovery of national cultural heritage from abroad. Since he took office in 2018, more than 11,500 archaeological pieces have been recovered, the SRE said.
Some of these efforts include the international campaign called #MiPatrimonioNoSeVende (#My Heritage Is Not For Sale), and a strategy that involves filing lawsuits against the auction of Mexican pieces abroad.
The Mexican government has dedicated resources these past five years into recovering stolen and misappropriated artifacts. A recent collection of 20 pieces was returned voluntarily in Belgium, as seen above. (INAH)
The Mexican government has fought auctions in cities such as New York, Paris and Rome, where pieces of Mexico’s heritage are sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Once these objects are sold to private collectors, it is more difficult to recover them.
It is hoped that the new memorandum of understanding will establish a number of new passenger and cargo routes. (Gobierno de Mexico)
The national aviation agencies of Mexico and China have signed two new memoranda of understanding aimed at expanding air travel between the two countries, after a three-year suspension of direct flights during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Delegates from Mexico’s Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) met on Thursday todiscuss the agreements. The first aims to increase bilateral cooperation in areas such as environmental protection, safety, capacity building and infrastructure development, while the second lays out a new air transport agreement covering passenger and cargo flights.
Hainan Airlines operated a direct flight between Beijing and Tijuana, which was paused in 2020, but the route is yet to restart. (byeangel/Wikimedia)
This agreement will allow more airlines to operate the China-Mexico route and expand destinations to five for passengers and four for cargo, from a previous maximum of two. It also lays out protocols for code-sharing, allowing both Mexican and Chinese airlines to increase joint operations.
During the meeting, two Chinese airlines expressed interest in resuming passenger flights to Mexico, while another agreed to increase cargo operations at Mexico’s Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA).
Direct flights between Mexico and China were suspended in January 2020, when China’s Hainan Airlines suspended flights to Tijuana due to maintenance at the destination. The flights were never reactivated after the COVID-19 pandemic struck later that year.
In May, the Pacific Airport Group (GAP), which operates 12 of Mexico’s regional airports, including popular destinations such as Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara, pledged to reactivate Hainan Airline’s flights from Beijing to Tijuana and Mexico City before the end of summer of 2023.
The meeting took place between representatives of Mexico’s AFAC and China’s CAAC civil aviation authorities. (Gobierno de Mexico)
Alejandra Soto, GAP’s director of institutional relations, also announced that negotiations were underway with Korean Airlines to operate a direct flight to Tijuana from Seoul, South Korea. Soto also said that with the establishment of a new Tijuana-Panama route, GAP hoped the Baja California airport would act as a travel hub between Asia and Central America.
Analysts who spoke to Reforma newspaper expressed optimism that the new agreements will boost trade between Mexico and China.
Aviation expert Carlos Torres said that increased cargo flights would allow Mexico to benefit more from the nearshoring phenomenon. A significant number of Chinese manufacturers have invested in Mexico in recent years, particularly in northern Mexican states close to the U.S. border.
Economist Fernando Gómez added that direct flights would also encourage more Chinese businesses to explore nearshoring opportunities in Mexico. Both analysts noted that Mexico is becoming a strategic trade hub in the context of the trade war between the two superpowers.
Chinese imports to Mexico have grown over recent years, reaching US $32 billion in the first four months of 2023, according to the Economy Ministry. Meanwhile, Chinese travelers to Mexico more than doubled to reach 68,206 in the first half of 2023, compared to 31,179 in the same period the year before, according to the Tourism Ministry.
The Mexican peso appreciated slightly at the beginning of the week, opening on Tuesday at 16.9 to the US dollar. (CRISANTA ESPINOSA AGUILAR /CUARTOSCURO.COM)
The US dollar-Mexican peso exchange rate dipped below 17 on Tuesday morning after the latter currency appreciated by more than 10 centavos from its closing position on Monday.
Data from Bloomberg shows that the value of one US dollar declined to a low of just under 16.9 pesos this morning after the greenback closed just above 17 on Monday.
Some reasons for the peso’s strength include high interest rates, large volumes of remittances and falling inflation. (Rmcarvalho/Istock)
At 11:30 a.m. Mexico City time, the peso was slightly weaker at 16.93 to the greenback.
The newspaper El Economista reported that the peso had benefited from a global weakening of the dollar.
It also said there was greater appetite for risk ahead of highly anticipated remarks set to be made by United States Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Kansas City Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this Friday.
“Any clues about how the [U.S.] central bank might be thinking about a plan for rate cuts in 2024 will … garner a lot of attention,” Bloomberg reported.
The Bank of Mexico has maintained interest rates at a record high this year. (Wikimedia Commons)
Analysts cite the Bank of Mexico’s high benchmark interest rate – currently set at a record high 11.25% – and the significant difference between that rate and that of the Fed (currently 5.25%-5.5%) as one factor that has benefited the peso this year. Strong incoming flows of foreign capital and remittances are among the other factors cited.
Mexico’s annual headline inflation rate has declined steadily this year to reach 4.79% in July, but the central bank opted against cutting its key interest rate at a monetary policy meeting earlier this month and has indicated that it intends to maintain the 11.25% level “for an extended period.”
President López Obrador has celebrated the strength of the peso, which reached an almost eight-year high of 16.62 to the US dollar in late July.
“We have a percentage of public debt contracted in dollars. So, when the peso strengthens, our debt goes down,” he said last month.
Santiago Creel (left) has withdrawn, leaving Beatriz Paredes (center) and Xóchitl Gálvez (right) in the running for the opposition bloc candidacy in 2024. (Santiago Creel/X)
Santiago Creel has withdrawn from the contest to become the 2024 presidential election candidate of the Broad Front for Mexico (FAM) and thrown his weight behind Senator Xóchitl Gálvez.
The field of aspirants to the opposition bloc’s nomination has thus narrowed to two: Gálvez, a National Action Party (PAN) senator, and Senator Beatriz Paredes of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Marko Cortés, leader of the PAN (center left), with Xóchitl Gálvez (center) and Santiago Creel (right). (Santiago Creel/X)
Creel, a former PAN lawmaker who served as federal interior minister between 2000 and 2005, announced his decision in a video message posted to social media on Monday night.
“Today I announce that I’m giving my full support to Xóchitl Gálvez so that she leads the Broad Front for Mexico,” he said.
“… To achieve the change Mexico needs, I’m convinced that the best option is to remain united behind Xóchitl,” said Creel, who received a letter from some 2,000 PAN supporters including former president Vicente Fox asking him to withdraw from the contest and support Gálvez.
Gálvez, an indigenous Otomí woman from Hidalgo, came out on top in FAM polling conducted to gauge support for four aspirants to its presidential election nomination. With 38.1% support, the senator was significantly more popular than Paredes (26%), Creel (20.1%) and Enrique de la Madrid, who was eliminated from the contest before the commencement of the third and final stage of the FAM’s candidate selection process.
Gálvez (center) has been cris-crossing the country since announcing her candidacy, most recently visiting sites of Maya Train construction in southeastern Mexico. She described the project as an “environmental crime”. (Xóchitl Gálvez/X)
In a video message posted to social media on Tuesday morning, Gálvez said that Creel was one of a “small group of friends” who persuaded her to seek to become a presidential election candidate and revealed that he had committed to support her if polls showed she was more popular than him.
“I remember perfectly well the conversation in your house during which we agreed to work together in this project and I said to you that if you were ahead in the polls I would support you and you told me exactly the same thing. Today you’re keeping your word,” she said.
Gálvez offered Creel the job of “general coordinator” of her campaign is she is successful in securing the FAM nomination, which he promptly accepted. The winner of the selection process will be announced Sept. 3 after additional polling and a direct vote in which registered citizens can cast ballots.
Paredes, now Gálvez’s sole rival for the FAM nomination, said on the X social media site on Monday that she respected Creel’s decision to withdraw from the contest.
Beatriz Paredes is polling below Gálvez, but so far remains in the contest. (Beatriz Paredes/X)
“I believe that his participation enriched the options that, as [the Broad] Front, we presented to society. But he is a mature politician who acts with complete freedom,” the PRI senator wrote.
PAN lawmakers and the party’s national president Marko Cortés praised Creel for withdrawing from the FAM contest in favor of Gálvez.
“You have taken a decision that demonstrates your political stature and love for the country. We value your generosity and recognize that you place Mexico above your personal aspirations,” Cortés wrote on X.
Gálvez and Paredes will participate in three “regional forums” this week before additional polling takes place ahead of the direct vote on Sept. 3.
The winner will represent the FAM, which includes the Democratic Revolution Party in addition to the PAN and the PRI, at the June 2, 2024 presidential election. The leading aspirants to the ruling Morena party’s nomination are former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and ex-foreign affairs minister Marcelo Ebrard.
Gálvez’s profile has risen rapidly since she announced her intention to seek the presidency in a video posted to social media in late June.
Marko Cortés, national president of the PAN, at the announcement of the Broad Front for Mexico coalition. (Marko Cortés/Twitter)
President López Obrador, who claimed in early that Gálvez had already been chosen as the FAM candidate, has repeatedly made verbal attacks on the senator, asserting that she is the representative of an “oligarchy” and implying that she is corrupt. His attacks have only increased Gálvez’s name recognition and spurred support for her.
Gálvez, according to PAN chief Cortés, is who “the people are asking for in the streets, the squares, the markets and on social media.”
“Xóchitl is who has grown the most in public opinion in the last seven weeks. She managed to change the political game,” he said, adding that she has debunked the “false narrative” emanating from the National Palace, the seat of executive power and López Obrador’s residence.
President López Obrador shows the planned trans-isthmus railway project, part of a major industrial trade corridor. (Gob MX)
To see the Panama Canal up close and in person is truly an impressive sight. The combination of vision, aspiration, hard work, engineering, and ingenuity to turn the canal from a wild idea into reality is awe-inspiring, and it’s undeniable the impact it has had on global trade flows.
So what impact might Mexico’s “alternative” to the Panama Canal, the trans-isthmus trade corridor, have on Mexico and on world trade?
Let’s start with the basics of the project. The interoceanic railway will run from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico for 303 kilometers across Mexico’s narrowest point (the Isthmus of Tehuantepec). The main line of the railway will run between the port cities of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. The idea is that a ship would unload its cargo from one side, send it by rail across the Isthmus, and reload it back onto another ship on the other side. This picture helps visualize the process:
A cargo ship docks in the port of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. (Wikimedia Commons)
What other investments accompany the train?
The trade corridor project also includes passenger and cargo railway lines to other areas, roadways, industrial parks, a gas pipeline and a fiber optic network. The train will include a link to the Maya Train and will include connections to 10 newly created industrial parks along the route which have already attracted US $4.5 billion in potential investments.
Could the project really be a viable alternative to the canal?
Mexican officials have compared the main line across the isthmus to a “cheaper and faster” Panama Canal, noting that it will have the capacity to transport 1.4 million containers annually from port to port on journeys of less than six hours.
For some perspective, the Panama Canal can cost a ship up to US $500,000 and take 8-10 hours to pass through. Nearly 40% of all U.S. container traffic annually passes through the canal so its important to note that even if the interoceanic train is a success, it will make only a small dent in the overall canal traffic.
That being said, the Mexican option would likely be a welcome alternative to shippers as problems with the canal do happen. According to a recent article by CNBC, the Panama Canal currently has a back up of 154 ships and an average wait time of 21 days due to an ongoing drought in the region that is restricting the amount of daily vessel traffic.
What kind of impact could the interoceanic train have on the Mexican economy and development?
Last month, Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said the trade corridor project, once operational, could account for as much as 5% of Mexico’s GDP. The project could drive significant growth and investment to a region that has long been neglected by the investment community. This could bring improved standards of living to millions of Mexicans who have had limited economic opportunities in the past and have often had to leave their homeland for other parts of Mexico or other countries to find work.
When will it be ready for use?
What seemed like an implausible idea just a few years ago is rapidly advancing, with the first railway car arriving in Veracruz just last week. The first tests begin next month and the president is insisting the project will be up and running by the time he leaves office in September of next year.
It will be fascinating to watch the progress of this ambitious project and see if it can deliver on the promised benefits to the country and its people.
The community of Indigenous Tzotziles in Chiapas where the books were burned is primarily evangelical Christian. Families said the books teach communism and homosexuality.(Cuartoscuro)
Protests against the new textbooks being provided for the upcoming school year by the Education Ministry (SEP) continued over the weekend in at least two Mexican states.
In the northern-central state of Aguascalientes, thousands of people marched on Sunday against “the ideological content” of the free textbooks, saying they are laced with “Marxist-communist” indoctrination. Estimating the crowd in the state capital of Aguascalientes at around 12,000 people, newspaper El Universal said many of the protesters were members of parents’ groups and Christian organizations.
In Aguascalientes, some 12,000 people marched in protest against the new textbooks. (Carlos Ramirez/X)
Meanwhile, in an evangelical Indigenous community in the southern state of Chiapas, parents set fire to unopened boxes of the textbooks outside Benito Juárez Elementary School, claiming the books teach communism, homosexuality and lesbianism. They demanded the SEP send them the previous textbooks.
The book burning occurred Sunday in San Antonio del Monte, a community of 2,250 within the municipality of San Cristóbal de las Casas, where 99% of residents are Indigenous, 85% speak the Tzotzil language, 17% do not speak Spanish and 16% are illiterate, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INEGI). Almost all of the residents of the town are evangelical Christians, according to newspaper Proceso.
In response, President López Obrador said on Monday that those who protest because they believe that the “virus of communism” is baked into the new, free textbooks are “misinformed and manipulated.”
“They have the right to demonstrate. We are free,” he said, while calling on people not to be manipulated by leaders, businesspeople and influence peddlers on the right. “That is politicking,” he said.
The new textbooks were intended to update the political curriculum, but have been accused of promoting Marxism and gender ideology, causing an angry reaction from those on Mexico’s right wing. (Gabriela Peréz Montiel/Cuartoscuro)
The president has admitted previously that the books could be “perfectible”, but said those promoting protests are classists and racists.
Governors in four states have said they are blocking the distribution of the textbooks to schools, with at least one, Chihuahua Gov. Maru Campos, filing an injunction.
The 2023-24 school year is to begin on Monday of next week.
At the elementary school in Chiapas, which reportedly has 700 students, parents in the community piled up boxes of the new textbooks, doused them with fuel and set them afire. A spokesperson for the community, which is within two miles of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, said, “By having the books physically already in the community, they decided to take this step.”
The textbooks did not burn well, which led some protestors to accuse them of “being from the devil.” (Screen capture)
When the books inside the boxes didn’t catch fire immediately, one parent remarked that “the books are from the devil, they don’t burn so fast.”
Others used a loudspeaker to proclaim, “We want the previous books, not crap,” “We don’t want trash” and “We don’t want triple-X.” Parents who attended signed or stamped their names to a statement against the books.
Meanwhile, in Aguascalientes, where the governor announced a moratorium on distribution of the textbooks on Aug. 12, organizers said they have 46,000 signatures against the new materials. Many were collected Sunday at tables set up in the city’s main square.
Those who oppose the textbooks also claim the material is plagued with inaccuracies, condenses some subjects too much and does not follow a defined curriculum.
The government rejects these arguments.
“They have been prepared by teachers and experts,” said López Obrador, who has dismissed those who say the government wants to indoctrinate children in communist or gender ideology with the new books.
The partnership between Grupo Modelo and Millfoods will prioritize utilizing Mexican-grown corn in beer production. From left to right: Millfoods President, Pilar Gutiérrez, Economy Minister, Raquel Buenrostro, Grupo Modelo VP Raúl Escalante. (Economy Ministry).
Grupo Modelo and Millfoods are set to invest US $300 million in a new corn processing facility in the city of Salamanca, Guanajuato.
Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro, Grupo Modelo VP Raúl Escalante, and Millfoods President Pilar Gutiérrez, announced on Thursday that the investment will go towards upgrading brewing infrastructure in the region.
Modelo will use the corn for flavoring in the brewing process. (Elevate/Unsplash)
The new facility will generate more than 1,000 new jobs, and serve 20,000 local corn producers from across the Bajío region when it is completed in late 2024. It will primarily produce corn grits, an ingredient used in the brewing of beer, which is often used to create a smoother flavor profile – as well as milling wheat for animal feed.
“This announcement contributes to the good business environment [in the country]. Investment in Mexico is at an all-time high and is generating good jobs, which are the key to eliminating poverty and inequalities,” said Buenrostro. The minister also suggested the investment demonstrates the confidence of investors in the country, which has seen a wave of investment announcements this year.
Mayor of Salamanca, Julio César Prieto Gallardo, thanked Grupo Modelo and Millfoods for their investment in the city, highlighting the need for public-private partnerships in developing the Mexican economy.
Modelos’ Escalante announced that “At Grupo Modelo we have an unwavering commitment to Mexico. With this investment, we support Mexican producers who grow the grains with which we make our iconic beers to continue promoting the growth of the country’s agribusiness.”
Investment in Mexico “is at an all-time high” according to Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro (center, in black).(Millfoods/X)
The new mill will be one of the most technologically advanced corn processing facilities in Mexico, and is designed to minimize water usage throughout the production cycle. Modelo will also prioritize the use of locally-produced corn, rather than importing it from the United States as it has previously done. Millfoods has also pledged to avoid the use of genetically modified corn in its production processes.
Millfoods president Gutiérrez highlighted the sustainability of the project, noting “We are excited to be the operating investor of this project towards food self-sufficiency and the economic and social development of Mexico.”
“We are committed to positioning our processes as benchmarks in the industry, working towards carbon neutral production and minimizing the use of water resources in our operations,” she continued.
The flag was raised for the first time since 1841. (Mauricio Vila/X)
The flag of Yucatán – once the symbol of the Republic of Yucatán – was “officially” raised for just the second time ever on Monday.
The only other time the bandera yucateca was officially raised was on March 16, 1841, at the Mérida Town Hall.
Mérida’s Palacio Municipal (town hall) was built in the 18th century and was the site of the last raising of the Yucatán flag in 1841. (Shutterstock)
The Republic of Yucatán existed during two separate periods of the 19th century, covering the area where the modern day states of Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo are located.
The first Republic of Yucatán lasted just over six months in 1823 before rejoining a newly independent Mexico, while the second republic – created due to opposition to the Centralist Government of Mexico – existed from 1841 to 1848.
On Monday morning, Governor Mauricio Vila and other local officials attended a ceremony at which a Yucatán flag measuring 24.5 meters in length and 14.5 meters in width was raised on Mérida’s “monumental flagpole,” located in the north of the Yucatán capital.
“For the first time since 1841, we carried out the official raising of the flag of Yucatán,” Vila said on social media.
Governor Mauricio Vila posted about the raising of the flag on his social media accounts. (Mauricio Vila/X)
He said that the raising of the flag was possible thanks to the reform to article 116 of the Mexican constitution, which was officially amended in May to give state legislatures the authority to pass legislation relevant to state symbols such as anthems, coats of arms and flags in order to “promote cultural heritage, history and local identity.”
Numerous Facebook users reacted positively to the governor’s post, saying that seeing the flag flying made them feel proud to be yucatecos.
The five stars on the Yucatán flag represent the five departments into which Yucatán was divided by decree in 1840: Mérida, Izamal, Valladolid, Tekax and Campeche.
While the second Republic of Yucatán ended almost two centuries ago, the state of Yucatán retains a distinct identity within Mexico. That unique identity is expressed through things such as food, language and traditions.
A rescue team recovered the bodies of the mountaineers on Sunday. (CORTESÍA/CUARTOSCURO.COM)
Four people were killed in an accident on the weekend while climbing the 5,636-meter-high Pico de Orizaba volcano, Mexico’s highest peak.
Civil Protection authorities in Puebla state said Sunday that the four mountaineers fell to their death. Three of the victims were from Veracruz and one was from Puebla. Their names, ages and genders weren’t disclosed by authorities.
Also known as Citlaltépetl, or Star Mountain in Náhuatl, the Pico de Orizaba is the highest peak in the country at 5,636 meters (18,491 ft) above sea level. (Wikimedia Commons)
However, the tour company Volcanes de México said on its Facebook page that the victims were Carlos Altamirano Lima, 53; José Inés Zepahua, 63; Hugo Cruz Vázquez, 19; and Humberto Kenji Muray, 58.
Altamirano, an experienced mountaineer, was the group’s guide, Volcanes de México said.
The tour company said that one of the mountaineers slipped and fell and brought his companions down with him.
The bodies of all four victims were located and taken to municipal offices in Atzitzintla, Puebla, on Monday morning, Civil Protection authorities said on social media. Photos showed rescue workers on a steep, rocky slope of the volcano.
Pico de Orizaba, also known as Citlaltépetl, straddles Puebla and Veracruz. It is the third highest mountain peak in North America after Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska and Mount Logan in Canada.
Fatal accidents have occurred on Pico de Orizaba previously, including one in 2018 in which three mountain climbers lost their lives.
One-way tickets to different destinations along the 1,500-km railway will range in cost from 281 pesos to upwards of 700. (Fonatur)
With the Maya Train gearing up for a December launch, potential passengers have been given a sneak peak at ticket prices from the director of the company.
In an exclusive interview with Radio Fórmula Digital, General Óscar Lozano Águila of Tren Maya S.A. de C.V. revealed details about how much it will cost to ride the train through the southeastern states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche.
Five out of seven sections of the Maya Train are expected to be operational in December 2023. (Fonatur)
The director said travelers will pay at least 2.32 pesos per kilometer traveled, although there will be different rates for local residents, Mexican nationals and tourists from outside the country, with discounts for seniors, disabled people and students.
The train will cover a distance of approximately 1,500 km (932 miles), and it is estimated that it will carry around 32,000 people per day.
For now, all tourist routes are designed to begin and end at the Cancún Airport station. Multiple-day packages will include visits to over 100 paid or free attractions, including 46 archaeological sites, 14 Pueblos Mágicos, six World Heritage sites and 18 “Indigenous Paradises,” along with nature parks, cenotes and more.
Basic, gold and platinum packages of one, two and three nights will be sold, Lozano Águila said, and prices will go up for business-class seats, dining plans and sleeping cabins with a private bathroom.
The tourist train will have 19 stations and will begin and end at the Cancún Airport station. (Fonatur)
“For a [local resident], there is a [basic] cost factor of 2.32 pesos per kilometer, [for] a national tourist 2.90, [and for] an international tourist 4.35 pesos per kilometer,” he added. He also said prices might be more during “high season” and cautioned that prices are still subject to changes by the federal government.
The seven sections of the Maya Train, five of which are expected to be operational in December, are Cancún to Tulum, Quintana Roo (121 km); Tulum to Chetumal, Quintana Roo (254 km); Chetumal to Escárcega, Campeche (287 km); Cancún to Izamal, Yucatán (257 km); Izamal to Calkiní, Campeche (172 km); Calkiní to Escárcega (235 km); and Escárcega to Palenque, Chiapas (228 km).
A trip from Cancún to Tulum, for example, would have a cost of 281 pesos (US $16.50) for locals or 526 pesos (US $30.93) for international tourists. The longest route would have a basic cost of 665 pesos (US $39.10), more than triple the minimum wage in Mexico of 207.44 pesos ($12.20) per day.
“It’s not like the subway where you get on and you can move through all the infrastructure,” Lozano Águila told Radio Fórmula. “This is a differentiated transport that attends to other types of needs and that also operates with much higher operating costs.”
