Mexico City, Mexico — Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says that the federal government is not in contempt of a judge’s order after reactivating work on section 5 south of the Maya Train.
During his Tuesday morning press conference, López Obrador admitted that work on that section has been ongoing for approximately one week since, “now, another procedure has been used and the project is considered to be of national security.”
According to the head of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur), Javier May, the railway under construction “is a matter of national security, a declaration by the National Security Council where the project is a priority and is a matter of national security, which is in the charge of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Public Security.”
López Obrador said that another mechanism was chosen because they could not wait any longer. “We wanted to wait for the judge to decide, but where is the quick and expeditious justice?”
López Obrador did not provide details about the new categorization of his flagship project, but only added that when the news became public, Amparos were filed before the court.
He said “the suspension has already cost the government money, has increased the budget, which is the people’s money,” and referred to the suspension as “nothing more than political interests.”
May said the decision was made during a meeting with the Security Council. They determined that it is a project of national security for the railways, and that the interested parties are the Secretary of Public Security and the Secretary of the Interior and they were the ones who determined that the work start again.
May stressed that the Amparos have not been violated. “We are not intervening. It is not Fonatur that called or is carrying out the work, it is being carried out by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Public Security.”