Train and track robberies increased 74% in 2021 to over 5,000 incidents, according to data from the Rail Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF).
There were 2,570 train robberies last year and 2,548 incidents of track theft, the ARTF said in a rail security report.
Jalisco recorded the highest number of freight robberies with 381 cases, an increase of 11% compared to 2020. Sonora ranked second with 273, a 4% annual spike, followed by Guanajuato, where robberies surged 54% to 264. Rounding out the top five were Coahuila and Sinaloa with 245 and 136 robberies, respectively.
Incidents of train vandalism – a crime sometimes committed by thieves to aid their heist – were also up last year, increasing 43% to 10,142.
Mexico’s railway routes.
Carlos Barreda Westphal, a representative of wood products manufacturer Stella-Jones, told the newspaper Reforma that the increase in robberies is concerning given the impact the crime has on the economy. The government’s efforts to keep the prices of basic food items in check is made more difficult because those products are transported by rail, he said.
“Let’s not forget that the products stolen from trains find a ready outlet on the black market,” Barreda added.
He said that a shortage of and high demand for goods primarily moved by rail – among which are grains, auto parts, domestic appliances and minerals – as well as authorities’ failure to combat crime along Mexico’s rail network, appeared to be the main reasons behind the increase in robberies.
“Robbery of a train has been [classified as] a serious crime that warrants preventative prison for a couple of years, but if the authorities don’t investigate and arrest criminals [the classification] is useless,” Barreda said.
“Calculating the losses this causes companies is difficult,” he said, adding that track theft affects the operating costs of railways.
“The more pieces of the track they steal, the more expensive it is to operate because everything has to be replaced,” Barrera said.
The navy has nullified the invitation-only tendering processes for two railroads in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec trade corridor after deciding that the only acceptable bids it received were too high.
The navy invited bids for the rehabilitation of the railroad between Ixtepec, Oaxaca, and Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas, as well as tracks between Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, and Palenque, Chiapas.
The former project involves work on 459 kilometers of tracks as well as 12 stations. Nine stations, 87 bridges and 328 kilometers of tracks need work on the Coatzacoalcos-Palenque section, which will connect to the Maya Train railroad.
The navy invited five companies to on the work. They each submitted bids for four different contracts, meaning that the navy received a total of 20 proposals.
Twelve were disqualified due to technical deficiencies, including all of those submitted by Ferrosur, a railroad subsidiary of mining conglomerate Grupo México.
The eight other bids were deemed technically sound but too pricey. They were submitted by ICA; a consortium made up of Mota-Engil and Nexumrail; Construcciones Urales; and a consortium made up of Grupo INDI and RECSA. All those companies have Maya Train contracts.
The lowest technically sound bids for the four different contracts added up to just over 52.93 billion pesos (US $2.7 billion), a figure that the newspaper Reforma reported is 19% higher than the cost of sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Maya Train, which is currently under construction in Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas.
Having rejected the bids, the navy is likely to negotiate directly with the companies in an attempt to get them to lower their prices, Reforma said. Launching new tendering processes is considered unlikely due to the length of time it would take.
The Ministry of the Navy has indicated that it wants the Ixtepec-Ciudad Hidalgo and Coatzacoalcos-Palenque railroads to be ready by January 2024. That target could be difficult to meet considering that a project to rehabilitate a 200-kilometer trans-isthmus section of railroad between Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and Coatzacoalcos is only about 60% complete more than two years after the 3-billion-peso contract was awarded.
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec trade corridor project also includes upgrades to the ports in Salina Cruz and Coatzacoalcos and construction of a new trans-isthmus highway and 10 industrial parks.
President López Obrador announced just over a year ago that the navy would be given control of the corridor once it is completed. The trans-isthmus railroad is slated to begin operations this year but the modernization of the ports won’t be finished until 2023.
A federal judge has issued a definitive suspension order against the Quintana Roo section of the Maya Train railroad between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, but President López Obrador pledged Tuesday that work will continue once the “unfounded” ruling is overturned.
Mérida-based judge Adrián Novelo ruled that work on the southern part of Section 5 (Tramo 5 Sur) of the US $10 billion railroad can’t proceed due to the absence of an authorized environmental impact statement (EIS). His ruling, made public on Monday, also precludes the removal or destruction of vegetation along the route, which runs through the Mayan jungle.
In issuing a provisional suspension order in April, Novelo ruled that all work on Tramo 5 Sur must stop due to the “imminent risk” of “irreversible damage” to the Mayan jungle, caves, subterranean rivers and cenotes (natural sinkholes) and the absence of environmental studies and permits. The lawsuit that led to that order, which has now become definitive, was filed on behalf of three speleologists by Defendiendo el Derecho a un Medio Ambiente Sano (Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment), a Cancún-based organization.
López Obrador said the government would challenge the latest order, but resolution of the matter via that route could take months. A quicker way to resolve the issue would be to present an Environment Ministry-approved EIS to the judge.
The EIS for Tramo 5 Sur is currently being reviewed as part of a public consultation process that will conclude on June 17.
Once the EIS has been approved by the Environment Ministry (Semarnat), the government will be in a position to file an application for the revocation of the suspension. Revocation won’t be automatic, however, because the government will still have to convince Novelo that the environmental damage caused by the construction and operation of Tramo 5 Sur will be minor and that the project is justified due to the economic and social benefits it will bring.
Sleepers are laid on the rail line in Maxcanú, Yucatán.
If the government presents the EIS to the judge as part of an application to have the definitive suspension order revoked, the environmentalists that were granted the order could broaden their lawsuit and ask Novelo to suspend its effects, Reforma reported. If the judge did that, work on the project could be blocked for even longer than is currently anticipated, the newspaper said.
Such a delay could upset the government’s plan to have the Maya Train begin operations in 2023, although López Obrador asserted that time could be recovered once the definitive suspension order is invalidated.
The National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur), which is managing the project, appears confident that work on Tramo 5 Sur won’t be held up for too long.
It said in a statement Monday that the order is only definitive until the EIS issue is resolved. Fonatur added that the EIS is currently being processed by Semarnat – even though the consultation process hasn’t finished – and noted that it’s made up of more than 4,000 pages prepared by experts.
“For Fonatur, the Tramo 5 Sur EIS is a solid document that considers possible impacts but which also plans abundant mitigation actions in favor of the environment, which will join measures already underway such as the reforestation of the southeast with almost 500 million trees and the strengthening of natural areas,” the statement said.
Asked about the suspension order at his news conference on Tuesday, López Obrador said the government would “continue with the entire legal procedure without any problem.”
“We’re certain that the project will continue. … Although the project is stopped now, we’re going to restart it and make up time,” he said.
“… We’re going to comply legally and they won’t be able to stop us. Private interests are not going to impose themselves, they won’t be above the general interest, the interest of the people, … the nation’s interest. Before they did and undid [whatever they wanted] but that’s not the case now,” López Obrador said.
Section 1 of the train in Calendaria, Campeche.
The president repeated his claim that opponents of the Maya Train are “pseudo-environmentalists” and charged that the latest court order has no basis.
“This is a political issue of those who don’t want the project to be carried out. They’re pseudo-environmentalists, financed by large companies … and also foreign governments. There are environmentalists funded by the United States government,” he said.
With regard to the commencement of work on Tramo 5 Sur before the EIS had been completed, López Obrador noted that the project was able to go ahead thanks to the infrastructure decree he issued late last year.
The decree instructs government agencies to grant provisional authorizations and permits to projects deemed to be of public interest and national security in a maximum period of five working days so as to ensure their timely execution.
In contrast, Novelo’s ruling was welcomed by opponents of the rail project, one of whom described it as “a small victory” but acknowledged that the fight isn’t over.
“It’s proof that everything we’ve been saying is true,” said Roberto Rojo, a biologist and speleologist.
“We’re happy because we were afraid that the judge would be pressured and give in. But now we feel hopeful, confident that there is still someone who keeps vigil over the rule of law in this country,” he told the newspaper El Universal.
Rojo was visiting caves along Tramo 5 Sur with one of the speleologists behind the lawsuit when he heard the news about the latest ruling.
“Receiving the news … [allowed] the release of a whirlpool of feelings – anxiety, desperation, anger, impotence and now happiness,” he said, adding that “we know this doesn’t end here.”
“It’s just one battle … and we’re working on something to foster the regeneration of the jungle that has been damaged, something that will give it protection,” Rojo said.
He explained that the aim of environmentalists is to have the land surrounding Tramo 5 Sur declared a Natural Protected Area, or ANP. Rojo also said that area meets all the requirements to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.
An ANP along the Tramo 5 Sur route would complement the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, Rojo said, referring to a UNESCO-protected area in the Caribbean sea and along Quintana Roo’s east coast.
The relocation of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) from Mexico City to Michoacán will provide an almost 7-billion peso boost to the historically impoverished state, according to state authorities.
The state minister for urban development and transport, Gladys Butanda Macías, said the investment in Michoacán would provide a 6.85-billion peso (US $351 million) economic spillover, representing the biggest financial lift since the Sicartsa steel mill was installed in Lázaro Cárdenas in 1976.
The Michoacán state government said the infrastructure plan includes the construction of a 14-story office complex to accommodate many of the 10,500 IMSS workers from 15 departments set to arrive in the state. It predicts an investment of 2.5 billion pesos (US $128 million) to build the new offices which it said will create 6,500 construction jobs.
In a second phase, three new regional hospitals are slated for construction in Uruapan, Zitácuaro and Morelia, promising an investment of some 4.35 billion pesos.
The state government added that 40% of the workers would move to Morelia in 2022 and the remainder the following year.
Macías said the relocation of the IMSS headquarters would create wider indirect economic benefits for the state. “Now that the fiscal domicile is here in Morelia it’s an anchor for suppliers and those in Morelia and Michoacán to increase their sales,” she said.
Macías added that utilizing land belonging to the state government would help it write off some of its debt to the federal government.
Much of President López Obrador’s plan to decentralize federal government departments remains unfinished. The health ministry is operating in Acapulco, Guerrero, and the culture ministry in Tlaxcala. The education ministry has not yet completed its move to Puebla.
The federal government is planning to ban smoking in a range of public places including beaches, parks and stadiums.
A presidential decree that would alter the General Law for Tobacco Control and consequently increase regulations on smoking is currently being prepared, the newspaper El Universal reported Tuesday.
President López Obrador has already signed a draft version of the decree, which the Health Ministry sent to the National Commission for Regulatory Improvement for review.
The document outlines the government’s intention to prohibit smoking in “spaces of collective gathering” for “reasons of public interest and social interest.”
Such spaces include publicly accessible courtyards, terraces, balconies, amusement parks, playgrounds and other places where children gather, urban parks, sports centers, beaches, event centers, stadiums, shopping centers, markets, hotels, hospitals, places of worship, areas where food and beverages are served and public transit stops.
The draft decree lists all those places and more even though smoking is already banned in many of them.
The government’s plan to alter the General Law for Tobacco Control comes just three months after a revised version of the same law was promulgated.
The updated law established workplaces, schools, public access areas, sporting and entertainment facilities and public transit as 100% smoke-free areas and placed a ban on tobacco company advertising and sponsorship.
The proposed decree would expressly prohibit tobacco advertising and sponsorship in direct and indirect ways such as product placement. It would cover all advertising mediums including social media, streaming services, television, film, radio, newspapers, magazines, flyers and billboards.
If enacted, the decree would also outlaw products that people – especially children – can use to mimic smoking such as candy and chocolate cigarettes.
In the draft document, López Obrador justified the decree by arguing that tobacco addiction is a chronic disease and that 80% of smokers start using tobacco before the age of 18. He pointed out that smoking causes cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses as well as cancer.
Citing the expense of treating such illnesses and the loss of human capital in the labor market due to disease and death, López Obrador also said that smoking has an enormous monetary cost.
It is unclear when the presidential decree might be issued, but it would take effect a day after its publication in the government’s official gazette.
Meanwhile, López Obrador on Tuesday – World No Tobacco Day – signed a decree prohibiting the circulation and sale of electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices.
“There is no healthy dose of tobacco,” he told reporters at his regular news conference. “It’s invariably harmful. It’s one of the products that is most clearly harmful to health.”
Smokers gather at one of Mexico City's marijuana tolerance zones. Facebook Laboratorio 4:20
Mexico City’s central square and a cannabis garden outside the federal Senate are among seven locations in the capital where pro-pot activists have established marijuana tolerance zones.
According to a report by the newspaper Milenio, members of the Laboratorio 4:20 collective have most recently “liberated” a section of the Glorieta de los Insurgentes, a public space surrounded by a large roundabout that adjoins the Insurgentes metro station.
The other four locations where marijuana smoking zones have been established are Parque América in the upscale neighborhood of Polanco; the Plaza de la Información near the Hidalgo metro station; Casa Tlaxcoaque near the Pino Suárez Metro station; and the Estela de Luz monument at the entrance to Chapultepec Park.
Daniela, a Laboratorio 4:20 member who has been instrumental in the establishment of the tolerance zones, told Milenio that the use of cannabis for recreational purposes is effectively legalized at the seven locations.
Daniela said that Laboratorio 4:20 is seeking to guarantee pot smokers’ rights, even though those rights have not yet been enshrined in law.
Outside the tolerance zones, possession and use of mota – as marijuana is colloquially known in Mexico – is still criminalized, she said.
“The police still beat us and arrest us,” the pot proponent protested. “The narcos come and threaten us and people look at us as if we were the devil,” she added, referring to the experiences of marijuana activists and users in the tolerance zones.
The organization provides free informational material at tolerance zones like this one in Parque América in the Polanco neighborhood. Facebook Laboratorio 4:20
Daniela explained how she and her fellow activist Yisus established the pot smoking area near Metro Hidalgo.
“It’s in front of the San Judas church. … People already used it to drug themselves with solvents and crack. One day Yisus set up a little table and we start to provide information about cannabis rights. At the start, the police arrived to remove us. But Yisus is a lawyer … and he showed his injunction [allowing him and other activists to use cannabis] and the documentation of our civil association. They stopped harassing us for a while and in that period we swept the plaza, washed it and potheads started to get together. Overnight the solvent sniffers departed. But what do you know? … [Drug dealers] arrived.”
The tolerance zone at the Estela de Luz (Stele of Light) – also known as the “monument to corruption” – was created during the pandemic, Daniela explained.
“But the narcos co-opted [the space] and threatened our people. Today, if you want to smoke at the Estela and you don’t take your own weed, you can only buy it from those people,” she said.
Other factors have also affected the tolerance zones. In the central square, or zócalo, for example, the smoking zone was fenced off recently when a replica of the Sistine Chapel was set up.
“Now you can only smoke on the streets [surrounding the square] in the middle of the traffic,” Miguel, another marijuana activist, told Milenio.
Mexico City is not the only city in the country where activists have “liberated” public spaces from what they see as unjust laws governing the use of marijuana.
In Oaxaca city, pro-marijuana activists occupied the El Llano park for months and pressured authorities to let them be. Their strategy worked.
In April, the city government advised police not to bother people smoking weed in public places in the state capital. In a letter to cannabis consumers, the government reiterated its commitment to respecting human rights and noted that there is no municipal law that expressly prohibits the “personal responsible consumption of cannabis in public spaces.”
The official position of Mexico City authorities is much the same. Mexico City police chief Omar García Harfuch told Milenio that arrests of marijuana users still occur, but stressed that the instruction to police is not to detain people smoking mota.
For her part, Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said bluntly that “we’re going after generators of violence,” rather than citizens with a penchant for smoking a spliff in the street.
The protest is at the facilities of Mexico's oldest winemaker, Casa Madero in Parras, Coahuila. Casa Madero
Protesters in Coahuila have occupied the winery of Mexico’s oldest winemaker since Friday night, accusing its owners of using too much water from a shared source, leaving them with too little to irrigate their crops.
Communal landowners took over the Casa Madero winery in the town of San Lorenzo, 140 kilometers west of Saltillo, to demand that the owners reduce their water use. They first arrived at the winery on Wednesday but left when state police arrived, only to return to enter the property two days later.
The company accused the protesters of violently installing themselves on the property and blamed municipal police for failing to take action, despite being present. The newspaper El País reported that the protesters were armed with machetes, picks and shovels.
A legal representative for the protesters, Josúe Hernández, said the landowners had a legal right to access the place where the water is distributed. Hernández added that the landowners had noticed less water was available to them, insisted that they weren’t armed and accused state police of trying to intimidate them.
The Coahuila landowners are demanding that the winery use less water from a shared source governed by an agreement that is more than 50 years old.
The mayor of the municipality of Parras, Fernando Orozco, denied that the landowners had acted violently and said the conflict was due to a lack of rainfall. “What is happening is a product of the fact that it has not rained … that’s why they went into Casa Madero,” he said.
Casa Madero was founded in 1597 in Parras, located in a valley area referred to locally as an oasis in the desert.
Orozco added that the conflict in the semidesert area was decades old and that in the past, the landowners had been able to enter the property to check on the water distribution.
The director of Casa Madero, Brandon Milmo, pointed to climate change as the cause of the problem.
“The main cause is that there is less water today, due to climate change and the exploitation of aquifers … 60 years ago, when the last agreement was signed, 1,000 liters flowed per second, and today there’s between 300 and 400. The decline has caused conflict,” he said.
The last agreement between the winery and local landowners was signed in 1964, which dictated the proportions of water available to different parties.
Water is a contentious issue in Coahuila, where drought is a serious problem. The latest drought monitoring report released on May 15 shows the whole state to be affected by drought with almost 35% of its territory experiencing extreme or exceptional drought.
A highway in Oaxaca connecting Pochutla to Oaxaca city washed out by Hurricane Agatha's effects as it approached the coast Monday afternoon.
The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced at 4 p.m. Monday that Hurricane Agatha had made landfall in Oaxaca about 10 kilometers west of Puerto Ángel with maximum sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour and higher gusts.
A hurricane warning remains in effect between the port city of Salina Cruz and the Lagunas de Chacahua national park, and a hurricane watch is in effect for Salina Cruz eastward to Barra De Tonalá, the NHC said.
Agatha was a Category 2 hurricane (maximum sustained winds between 154 and 177 kph) when it struck land.
The NHC’s warning area for Agatha takes in the popular tourist destinations of Huatulco and Puerto Escondido and smaller beach towns such as Mazunte and Zipolite.
Grahpic showing the projected track of the storm into Oaxaca Monday. Government of Oaxaca
The NHC said that Agatha’s northeast trajectory is expected to continue through Tuesday.
“Maximum sustained winds are near 105 mph (165 km/h) with higher gusts,” the Miami-based center said, adding that rapid weakening is forecast after landfall and that Agatha is expected to dissipate over southeastern Mexico by late Tuesday.
Agatha’s storm surge is expected to cause extremely dangerous coastal flooding near and to the east of where the hurricane made landfall. The center also warned of large and destructive waves. “Large swells generated by Agatha will affect the coast of southern Mexico during the next day or so. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the NHC said.
Heavy rain is expected in Oaxaca as well as Chiapas, Veracruz, Tabasco and eastern Guerrero. Oaxaca will receive the heaviest falls, with 250 to 400 millimeters (10 to 16 inches) of rain predicted as well as isolated maximum amounts of 510 mm (20 inches).
The NHC said that life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides may occur in both Oaxaca and Chiapas, where rainfall of up to 380 mm (15 inches) is possible.
Agatha is the first named storm in the Eastern Pacific this year. Since it reached the Oaxaca coast as a Category 2 hurricane, that makes it the strongest ever to make landfall in the Eastern Pacific in May.
In addition, it is just the third hurricane in recorded history to make landfall in Mexico in May after Barbara crashed into Chiapas in 2013 and Agatha struck Michoacán in 1971. Both those hurricanes were Category 1.
The Associated Press reported Monday that threatening grey skies and blowing sand had cleared beaches in destinations such as Puerto Escondido and Huatulco. Over 200 shelters are offering refuge from the hurricane and more than 9,000 emergency personnel are poised to respond to Agatha’s arrival. Schools were closed in Oaxaca and parts of Guerrero on Monday.
Members of the Mexican Air Force tracking satellite imagery of Hurricane Agatha.
Before the hurricane even made landfall, Oaxaca’s state Civil Protection had reported a landslide due to Agatha’s effects as it approached the coast. Heavy rains caused washed out a highway connecting Pochutla to Oaxaca city near the municipality of Miahuatlán, making travel between Pochutla and Miahuatlan impossible, Civil Protection said.
“Don’t take the risk,” the Oaxaca Civil Protection’s Twitter account advised around 3 pm.
Dan Pydynowski, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, warned of the risk of property damage and trees and power lines coming down. “Flooding rainfall is expected to be one of the biggest impacts across southern Mexico and parts of Central America,” he added.
“The heaviest rain will fall across the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, causing flash flooding, mudslides and road closures.”
The last hurricane to strike the Oaxaca coast was Carlotta, which made landfall near Puerto Escondido at Category 2 intensity in June 2012. Seven people were killed and at least 29,000 homes and 2,500 businesses were damaged, mostly in Oaxaca.
There is a risk that Agatha could regain strength after entering the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days. It could thus become the first named storm of both the Pacific and Atlantic hurricane seasons.
Mexican producer and screenwriter Julio Chavezmontes missed the post-award celebrations after he tested positive for COVID-19 Courtesy photo
The prize for best film at the Cannes Film Festival was presented on Saturday, but the one Mexican who contributed to its triumph was unable to join the celebrations.
Julio Chavezmontes coproduced the winner of the Palme d’Or, Triangle of Sadness, which gained an eight-minute standing ovation by the invitation-only crowd. However, he was unable to rejoice with cast and crew after contracting COVID-19 while in France to promote the film.
“I have not been able to celebrate because on Thursday I gave positive [in a COVID-19 test] and I’ve been locked away since then,” Chavezmontes said in a telephone interview.
“Receiving the news [of the victory] has helped me and I’m well … but yes, unfortunately I’m isolated and recovering,” he added.
Triangle of Sadness new clip official from Cannes Film Festival 2022 - 1/3
A clip from the Palme d’Or winner, Triangle of Sadness.
The dark, satirical comedy was written and directed by Swede Ruben Östlund and stars Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean and Woody Harrelson.
The film centers on a fashion model celebrity couple who are invited on a luxury cruise for the super rich. It critiques superficiality in beauty culture: the title comes from a term used by plastic surgeons to describe a face wrinkle.
Östlund previously won the Palme d’Or for his film The Square in 2017. His 2014 work Force Majeure won the jury prize at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard (From Another Angle) category where films are nominated for their originality.
Triangle of Sadness has an approval rating of 71% on ratings website Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews by critics.
A roadblock manned by armed civilians surprised a group of reporters as they followed the president through northern Sinaloa in May. Video screenshot
President López Obrador has denied that organized crime controls territory in Sinaloa and other parts of the country after armed men set up a roadblock on a highway over which he flew last Friday.
From the vantage point of a helicopter during a tour of northern Mexico, López Obrador inspected the new highway that connects the Sinaloa municipality of Badiraguato – the birthplace of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán – to Guadalupe y Calvo, Chihuahua.
Reporters and officials that traveled overland to an event the president held in the latter municipality encountered a checkpoint manned by approximately 10 heavily armed men. The presumed cartel henchmen questioned the journalists and officials before allowing them to pass the blockade, which was set up half an hour from the community of La Tuna, where El Chapo was born and his mother still lives.
Asked on Saturday about the presence of armed men on the highway, López Obrador said that fortunately nothing sinister occurred. He conceded that the encounter was a frightening experience for the reporters and officials but reiterated that they ultimately had no problem.
Speaking to journalists after a visit to the Picachos dam in southern Sinaloa, López Obrador said there are people in some parts of the country – “not just Sinaloa” – who think that they must “take care of a region” by stopping vehicles and ensuring that weapons aren’t brought in.
“Sometimes there is confusion but in general everything is OK,” he said, although he conceded that the presence of armed men with military-style equipment in states such as Sinaloa and Jalisco wasn’t a good thing.
Asked whether criminal groups have taken control of some regions of Sinaloa, the president responded that that was the view of the “conservatives,” a term he frequently uses to describe both his current political opponents and members of past “neoliberal” governments.
“That’s what the conservatives say … but don’t believe them,” he said before rejecting the suggestion that criminal groups control other parts of the country.
"No pasa nada”: AMLO minimiza retén con hombres armados en Badiraguato
In footage from the press van, armed men can be seen walking around the vehicle and eventually, unblocking the road to let the reporters pass.
“No, no, no, no, that’s what the conservatives think. I’m not Felipe Calderón,” López Obrador said, referring to the former president.
He subsequently asserted that his government is free of people of the ilk of Genaro García Luna, Calderón’s security minister who was arrested in the United States in 2019 on charges of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel.
In 2020, López Obrador used the charges faced by García Luna – who remains imprisoned awaiting trial in the U.S. – to support a claim that Mexico was a narco-state under Calderón, who was president between 2006 and 2012.
Early last year, the president rejected a United States government claim that criminal organizations control “ungoverned areas” that account for about one-third of Mexico’s territory.
He said Saturday that he felt safe in Sinaloa, a sensation perhaps generated, at least in part, by his use of a helicopter rather than a car to traverse the Golden Triangle, a notoriously lawless region of northern Mexico where opium poppies and marijuana are grown.
The president said at his Guadalupe y Calvo event – at which he primarily spoke about the benefits of the government’s tree-planting employment scheme Sowing Life – that he didn’t like the name Golden Triangle and that the region should be renamed the “Triangle of Good and Hard Working People” or “the region of good neighbors, or something like that.”
“We have to change … [the name] because there’s a lot of goodness here … and we shouldn’t stigmatize any area,” López Obrador said.
