Metro Line 12/Security in Mexico City

Metro Line 12 investigation. President López Obrador reaffirmed his support to Mexico City´s government regarding the ongoing investigation of the Metro Line 12 collapse and hoping to operate by the end of 2022.

On May 3 2021, Metro Line 12 collapsed leaving 26 dead and dozens of injured people. Since then, an investigation on the causes of the collapse has been in progress. Nevertheless, one year after the tragedy, those responsible have not been charged. The international consulting firm Det Norske Veritas (DNV), a company hired by the Mexico City government to identify the possible causes of the collapse, delivered its third and final report, highlighting failure in inspections and maintenance as causes for the tragedy.

DNV, a Norwegian consulting firm specializing in certification and risk management, delivered its analysis that led the railway structure to lose stability and collapse. The report emphasizes the structural wear and tear caused over time by an alleged lack of maintenance and regular inspections.

The report provides facts that go back to past administrations that were in charge of the metro: the Marcelo Ebrard administration, which built Line 12and was in power from 2006 to 2012, followed by the Miguel Ángel Mancera administration that governed from 2012 to 2018, during that time the line was suspended for 1.5 years between 2014 and 2015 and, finally, Claudia Sheinbaum´s current administration, initiating in 2018.

The first two parts of the report were published by Claudia Sheinbaum's administration in June and Sept. 2021. The third report was not shared through official local government channels due to disagreements with DNV. The Mexico City government considered the results “false” and “politically biased,” consequently, the Sheinbaum administration announced that it will now proceed to file a civil lawsuit against DNV. The company nevertheless backs-up the results of its report. Nevertheless, the report's results were published by the Spanish newspaper El País.

Cuban doctors. Deputy Minister of Health Hugo López-Gatell said that hiring Cuban doctors responds to the national deficit of medical specialists in Mexico. Moreover, he pointed out that Mexico urgently needs doctors, especially in marginalized areas and mentioned that Cuban doctors are willing to travel to remote and rural areas and attend their populations, something that Mexican doctors refuse to do even when there are vacant positions. Jorge Alcocer, Mexico’s Minister of Health, informed that there are more than 2,000 vacant positions at the IMSS where more than 510 positions have remained vacant for more than three years.  

Last week, President López Obrador reported that during his Central America and Caribbean visit he established an agreement with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to hire more than 500 Cuban doctors for what he considers a deficit of specialists (doctors) in Mexico. The president said that during the neoliberal period medicine students did not receive government support causing a shortage of doctors and specialists.

Mexico City security report. Mexico City Mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced that the city has reached historical homicide levels. Minister of Defense Luis Cresencio Sandoval reported that crime rates are decreasing, these including human trafficking, for which the entity occupies the first place nationally, among others. Nevertheless, the report did not include figures related to feminicide rates in the city.

Furthermore, Cresencio Sandoval reported that 119 clandestine fuel thefts have been located in Mexico City, reporting that 318,000 liters of fuel were recovered and that 19 people were detained.

While huachicoleo may be on the rise, the total volume of fuel stolen, and by extension the financial burden, has significantly decreased. In the first half of Peña’s Nieto’s government, huachicoleo cost PEMEX an estimated MX$11.3 billion, compared to MX$2.5 billion under the López Obrador administration. Furthermore, the efforts of the administration have led to a 93.2 percent drop in fuel theft, with data showing fuel theft plummeted from 74Mb/dpd on the day López Obrador assumed office to an average 5Mb/d as of fall 2021.

Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish