Flexible Modifications if Needed / Cristobal Hits the Southeast

Contingency modifications will be “flexible.” President López Obrador said he would not take any authoritarian measures if states needed to make changes to the current measures against COVID-19. “We are taking care of people’s health, we are not going to act rigidly but with flexibility if we need to modify measures in some regions,” he said, ruling out any “authoritarian action.” He recalled that the pandemic is not spreading uniformly across the country so a specific approach would be needed for the most-affected regions. The president explained that in states included in his ongoing tour, such as Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo, there has been a decline in cases but the number of infections is on the rise in Tabasco. “The same is happening in Mexico City. There is still no clear decline. We will be observing what happens,” he said.

Cristobal storm pounds southeast, heads north. Civil Protection head David León reported that tropical storm Cristobal is progressing slowly to the northeast of the country but heavy rains are expected to continue in Veracruz, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo in the south. “It is currently moving toward the Campeche coast, 40 kilometers north-northwest of Ciudad del Carmen,” León said during the president’s daily briefing held in Campeche. Winds of up to 95 kilometers per hour are forecast for the southeast and the Yucatan Peninsula.

US requested accounts be frozen. President López Obrador said the United Financial Intelligence’s (UIF) freezing of 1,939 banking accounts related to the Jalisco cartel was at the request of US agencies. “There was a request from the United States government. They had information and in accordance with our cooperation agreements, banking accounts belonging to this group were frozen,” he said. The president highlighted the transparency in cooperating with the US government in the fight against organized crime.

Laments that more people are leaving confinement. After reports that mobility has been rising since Monday, President López Obrador reiterated his call for people to stay at home, since the COVID-19 contingency has not ended. “Stay at home if you don’t have any essential activity,” he said. The president explained that it is normal for people to feel tired of confinement. “Not all of us have spacious houses, not all have a salary guaranteed; however, we must take care of ourselves because the most precious thing is life and health,” he said.

Semar agreed on vessel surveillance. The Ministry of the Navy (Semar) agreed with shipping companies to grant surveillance of vessels that cannot dock in Campeche Bay because they have no contracts signed with PEMEX. Semar head Admiral Rafael Ojeda explained that most of the increase in assaults and robberies are happening on vessels that were anchored without notifying the authorities.

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish