Documents leaked by Mexico’s Ministry of National Defense reveal that the military informed the government in 2020 of a high risk of collapse for part of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s signature project, the Maya Train. Similar warnings from environmentalists have been brushed aside by the president in the past.
The information was first reported by Animal Politico through documents from the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) that were stolen by the hacktivist group Guacamaya.
A geological analysis sent to Mexico’s National Fund for Tourism Development (FONATUR) in April 2020 is said to have warned of “high to severe risk” of “submergence and flooding” for the fifth section of the Maya Train, a stretch of 75 miles. runway that would connect the tourist hot spots of Cancun and Tulum in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Read more: Mexico’s Maya Train: A Look at AMLO’s Most Controversial Development Project
Additionally, a study conducted by military engineers from SEDENA described that the entire northern section of the fifth segment – of which SEDENA is responsible for construction – is at “severe” risk of collapse.
Controversial dirty stretch
The fifth segment of the Maya Train has been embroiled in controversy and criticism from environmental activists, who have called out the damage the infrastructure project could cause to the region’s ecosystem and the underground lakes or “cenotes” on top of which the train tracks are being built. .
Anger came to a head in January this year when FONATUR announced changes to the route of the fifth segment, rejecting the original plan to build the train line along the existing highway and choosing to start cutting a path through the region’s jungle.
The change to the original route along the highway, which had already resulted in the felling of 22,000 trees, came after hotel associations in the region argued that construction along the highway would impede access to their luxury resorts.
After the route change, environmentalists filed a lawsuit against the Maya Train, and a district judge from southeastern Yucatan ruled in April to halt construction of the fifth segment.
Mexico has already invested over $4.5 billion in the Maya Train project, and estimates of its total cost run as high as $20 billion.
President López Obrador’s signature development project
At a press conference in July, President López Obrador condemned the decision to halt his administration’s signature development project, accusing the United States government of funding the activists behind the lawsuit.
“They are from Mexico City and other parts of the country, these pseudo-environmentalists funded by the United States government; they are the ones who promote these orders,” the president said, giving no evidence in his speech.
However, recently released military reports confirm that the environmentalist arguments dismissed by Mr. López Obrador were grounded.
Despite the orders, construction on the fifth segment of the train has resumed.
In August, a federal judge dismissed lawsuits that halted construction of the southern section of segment five, citing that the government had declared the Maya Train project a matter of national security, protecting it from interference that could endanger the completion of his.
In September, a district judge had also quashed the lawsuit that suspended construction of the northern section of segment five, although construction on that segment had already resumed a month before the ruling.
By June of this year, the construction of the Maya Train was 40% complete, according to the head of FONATUR, Fernando Vázquez, in an interview with the newspaper. country.
Despite the many setbacks and obstacles, Mr. Lopez Obrador has insisted that the train be completed by December 2023, exactly one year before the end of his term.
For 2023, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit has announced an increase of 7.2 billion dollars for FONATUR, the department responsible for the Maya Train. With 92% of resources earmarked for the train, the budget for the controversial development project will increase by 118%.
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