4 weeks ago
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president is successful a unreserved to decorativeness nan large legislative and building projects he promised earlier his word ends successful September, and experts opportunity officials are getting a spot sloppy amid each nan haste.
This week, legislators from nan governing Morena statement mistakenly submitted nan incorrect measure connected pension betterment for a ballot successful Congress, earlier sheepishly admitting nan correction and rescheduling nan vote. They claimed Thursday that aides had mistaken 1 group of papers for another, but nan measure almost sewage approved earlier nan guidance noticed nan error.
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"In nan legislative process, arsenic successful life and each activities, quality mistakes are made that aren't premeditated, that aren't ill-intentioned," said Sen. Ignacio Mier, nan constituent man for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's statement successful nan Senate.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador gives his regularly scheduled greeting property convention astatine nan National Palace successful Mexico City, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
The rushed ambiance extends to infrastructure, pinch nan president's beloved train projects suffering glaring building errors successful caller months. Cranes person collapsed disconnected bridges and pilings person been sunk into supposedly protected cave systems. With nan June 2 statesmanlike predetermination approaching, nan president wants to decorativeness his administration's projects, fast.
"There is this rush, because López Obrador wants to put arsenic overmuch successful spot arsenic imaginable to guarantee his ain policies, truthful that ... whoever wins (the election), they won't beryllium capable to backtrack connected it, astatine slightest not easily," governmental expert José Antonio Crespo said.
But nan pension betterment particularly has go a lightning rod for criticism, because it would fundamentally prehend unclaimed pension costs if a worker doesn’t commencement drafting them by property 70.
López Obrador says nan seized costs — which he wants to put into a cookware for labor whose pensions are excessively mini — would ever beryllium disposable for return if a worker aliases his dependents show up later to declare them.
"Even if clip has passed, they tin record a petition for nan costs to beryllium returned to them," López Obrador said Thursday.
But nan measure mistakenly submitted for a ballot precocious Wednesday really would person removed immoderate of those protections. For example, labor who didn't tie their pensions by property 70 aliases 75 because they were still moving could still person had their pensions seized.
And because pension withdrawals are already truthful bureaucratic and restrictive — dependents successful Mexico often person to spell to tribunal to entree a deceased worker's pension money — nan thought that a elemental petition will get nan money returned has been met pinch derision.
"We are against this, because they are going to loot everybody's account," said guidance Sen. Rubén Moreira, a personnel of nan aged ruling PRI party. "First, because nan money successful nan individual accounts is nan individual spot of galore people, and secondly, because this won't lick nan pension problem."
The hostility involves López Obrador's disdain for backstage aliases individual use programs. The president often rails against "individualism" and "aspirationalism," a word successful Spanish astir balanced to "getting ahead" aliases "pulling yourself up by your ain bootstraps." He prefers large, government-run programs.
Mexico's woefully underfunded pension programs were converted successful 1997 into individual accounts somewhat akin to nan U.S. 401K program, successful which a worker and his employer some lend to a individual status finance account.
López Obrador has agelong criticized that change, saying nan authorities itself should guarantee everyone a pension balanced to 100% of their past paycheck. Of course, nan Mexican authorities doesn't person capable money to do that, hence nan projected ambush connected nan "unclaimed" individual accounts.
"Taking these individual, unclaimed accounts ... could impact nan authorities aliases workers and their beneficiaries, if they don't move to make a claim," said Orlando Corona, nan societal information master for nan Mexican Institute of Financial Executives.
Corona said a large outreach and advertisement run would beryllium needed to punctual workers astir nan value of claiming their money — thing nan president's scheme doesn't contemplate.
López Obrador has a history of rushing laws done legislature without overmuch clip for legislators to really publication nan bills, conscionable arsenic he has sought to ram done his infrastructure building projects by exempting them from normal permitting and biology reappraisal processes.
On Wednesday, his statement pushed done nan Senate a rule that would prohibit judges from blocking authorities projects, moreover if citizens record appeals against them.
Chief among nan projects beloved to Lopez Obrador's bosom are railway lines. Mexico mostly abandoned state-run rider train work successful nan 1990s, and nan president is building obstruction lines to bring that back. The problem is those projects are either environmentally questionable aliases excessively large to decorativeness during his term.
López Obrador has vowed to decorativeness them earlier he leaves agency Sept. 30, bragging they are being built successful "record time." He spends astir of his weekends flying astir to different building sites to personally oversee nan work.
But apparently it is difficult to do observant activity successful a hurry, some successful authorities and successful construction. "It is not advisable, but that's nan measurement they're doing it," said Crespo.
On Tuesday, an 800-ton gantry crane — a immense portion of machinery utilized to position pre-fabricated actual span spans — came crashing to nan crushed astatine an elevated commuter obstruction statement meant to nexus Mexico City pinch neighboring Toluca. Nobody was injured, but nan mishap delayed building and terrified neighbors.
In January, different crane dropped a immense pre-fab actual span onto nan roadway below, narrowly missing 2 men who were repairing a truck.
On March, a loose railway fitting caused a train car to derail connected nan president’s pet task — a tourer obstruction way known arsenic nan Maya Train that is planned for carrying some visitors and section residents connected a loop astir nan Yucatan peninsula.
No 1 was wounded successful nan incident, but fixed that it's meant to yet beryllium a high-speed train, nan oversight was worrisome.
The obstruction move progressive successful nan mishap is designed to beryllium operated automatically. Though nan automated strategy is not yet successful place, nan president wanted that portion of nan statement up and moving anyway.
So nan move — which shunts train cars onto different way — has to beryllium manually loosened, moved and returned to its original position by hand. Someone apparently didn’t tighten nan fitting down again.
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On nan aforesaid project, nan authorities has acknowledged that alloy and cement pilings meant to support an elevated conception of nan tracks were driven straight done nan roofs of delicate limestone caves.
The web of caves, sinkhole lakes and underground rivers on Mexico’s Caribbean seashore are some environmentally delicate and person been recovered to clasp immoderate of nan oldest quality remains successful North America.
