Miners Trapped in Coal Mine/Journalist Murdered

Rescue at collapsing coal mine. Head of Civil Protection Laura Velázquez Alzúa assured that the government is currently working with municipal and state authorities to rescue the 10 miners trapped in a mine in Coahuila. “We have not slept. We are working on an interrupted basis. SEDENA and the National Guard have deployed their DN-III plan. We are all working hard to rescue the trapped miners.”

According to the government, 15 miners were working at a depth of 60m yesterday at the coal mine located in Sabinas, Coahuila, when the walls of the tunnels collapsed, flooding the three pits with a height of 34m. Authorities are currently draining the water so they can enter the mine and assess the condition of the trapped miners. The Army has deployed 95 officers, 31 from an immediate response team, 12 divers, four pairs of canines, 15 vehicles, two ambulances and two aircraft. Of the 15 miners who worked at the mine, five were able to escape: three of them are at the hospital while two have been discharged.

Another journalist murdered. Minister of Security and Citizen Protection (SSCP) Ricardo Mejía reported that an investigation on the murder of journalist Ernesto Méndez in Guanajuato has been opened. “As a presidential and secretarial order for these types of crimes, we are investigating to find those responsible. We will clarify the facts and exercise justice.”

Méndez was director of Tu Voz. He was killed on Tuesday around 11:00 p.m. in San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato. According to the organization Artículo 19, the crime was carried out by an armed group that attacked a bar owned by the journalist's family. Previously, Méndez had already received threats, for which he requested protection from the Office of the Attorney General. So far, there have been 13 homicides of journalists in 2022; nine have been killed for their journalistic work.

No more reforms to be approved. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stressed that due to the strong opposition at Congress, it is unlikely that more constitutional reforms will be approved, especially the electoral one. However, he stressed that he will continue to send these so the position of his government is known. “Opposition parties have shown their true colors. Before, they seemed to be different in voting, but we already found out that they vote in groups. Therefore, it is difficult for us to pass further reforms. However, we are going to send the initiatives as a matter of principle.”

The new electoral reform proposes changing 18 articles and inserting 7 transitional ones, seeking to replace the National Electoral Institute (INE), eliminate plurinominal deputies, reduce the number of federal legislators to 300 deputies and 96 senators, while implementing electronic voting, among other changes. Since López Obrador took office in 2018, he has insisted on the need for terminating corruption at INE and the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF) to transform them into true autonomous and democratic institutions. The president said that since the current electoral bodies have failed in their democratic duties, he sent a proposal to Congress to change its members and configuration.