Celebrities Against the Mayan Train/AMLO Attacks the INE

Mayor in Michoacan Murdered. Deputy Minister of Security (SEDENA) Ricardo Mejía reported  that authorities believe one of the motives for the murder of Cesar Valencia, Mayor of Aguililla, Michoacan, was SEDENA’s intervention in the municipality. “We want to point out that this crime was perpetrated by a criminal group as a result of the social intervention program ordered by the president. We believe that one of the strongest motives for the murder was that the mayor was unable to prevent SEDENA’s presence, and therefore, a criminal cell took his life as punishment.” Mejía stressed that the investigations are being carried out to provide justice and those responsible for the homicide will soon be prosecuted.

On March 10, Valencia was leaving the premises of the municipal presidency when he was shot. After the murder, the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) and Michoacan Prosecutor's Office began investigations to find those responsible. The murder took place in Aguililla, one of the most violent municipalities in the state, where criminal groups are fighting for control of the Tierra Caliente area. Consequently, state forces became involved in the municipality and SEDENA began to recover localities that were under the control of organized crime. Currently, the alleged perpetrators have been identified and authorities await the receipt of arrest warrants to bring them to justice.

AMLO says that opposition groups are behind the campaign against the Mayan Train. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador assured that the celebrity´s campaign against the construction of the Mayan Train was paid by political opponents or people who are against developing projects. “Celebrities can also be dishonest. Either the opponents paid the celebrities or they did it out of conviction because they are very upset with the way we are developing the country. They are our adversaries. It is not true that we are destroying forests.”

On Tuesday, on World Water Day, a campaign against the Mayan Train was launched by celebrities  such as Eugenio Derbéz, Natalia Lafourcade, Bárbara Mori, among others. In a video, celebrities explained that the Mayan Train’s Section 5 was carried out without an environmental study or citizen consultation, which represents a risk for the ecosystems of the region and nearby communities. In addition, these celebrities asked the president to listen to the opinion of specialists to understand how the land would be affected, as well as their proposals. In addition to celebrities, NGOs, Mayan communities, environmentalists and archaeologists have also demanded the cancellation of the Mayan Train’s Section 5 construction

Revocation of Mandate Referendum. President López Obrador announced that he will participate as a citizen in the revocation of mandate referendum and criticized that the INE has not promoted the consultation as it should. “Neither the INE nor the media have given adequate coverage to this great democratic process. However, I believe that citizens with the little information they have can participate. It is about democracy.”

The president has constantly promoted the revocation of mandate referendum that will be carried out on April 10. López Obrador said that he has to promote it because INE is not doing its job and is even allocating fewer resources than those established by law. For its part, INE said it is doing everything necessary to guarantee the rights of citizens. However, it made some changes since it does not have enough financial resources after its 2022 budget was cut. Regarding the accusations of not promoting the referendum, INE said the president´s statements were not true and that discussion forums will be held at the national level to inform the population about the referendum.