Clandestine explosion at Hidalgo, Mexico

mabar

The Living Force
FOTCM Member
A tragedy that it would happend sooner o later ...
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201901191071623926-mexico-pipeline-explosion-damage/ said:
Multiple People Hurt as Ruptured Pipeline Explodes in Central Mexico (GRAPHIC VIDEO)

Mexican Broadcaster has shown dramatic footage of the burning pipeline in the municipality of Tlahuelilpan near a refinery to the north of Mexico City.
According to local media reports, a ruptured pipeline exploded on Friday, injuring dozens of people who were trying to fill containers with fuel from the broken pipeline.

State governor Omar Fayad told local television he did not yet know if anyone had died, but that he had received reports that "many people" had been burned in the explosion, Reuters reported.
earlier


https://youtu.be/yJE8vKwbm4I



--using google traductor
[/quote]
_https://www.elsoldehidalgo.com.mx/policiaca/explota-ducto-de-combustible-en-tlahuelilpan-2941799.html said:
Exploits clandestine takeover of Pemex in Tlahuelilpan

At the moment, firefighters, as well as military and police in the region, work at the site of the explosion
A few minutes ago, the explosion of a fuel pipeline that had previously been drilled in the community of San Primitivo was reported.
On the site, there were hundreds of people, who, with buckets and drums, took away the fuel that stagnated in the farmland.
In spite of the military presence, the multitude managed to introduce vehicles, in which they loaded the filled fuel drums, to transfer them to their houses.
It is said that it was due to this that the explosion of the duct was generated, which immediately provoked the mobilization of the rescue bodies.
According to testimonies of inhabitants of Tlahuelilpan, after the loud roar, people heard the cry, who shouted that it was burning.
At the moment, firefighters, as well as the military and police of the region, work at the site of the explosion

here, another graphic-very- photo _Reportan explosión de toma clandestina de hidrocarburo en Tlahuelilpan - Criterio Hidalgo

Update At Least 20 Dead, Multiple Hurt as Ruptured Pipeline Explodes in Central Mexico ---very graphic images At least 20 killed and 50 injured
 
Last edited:
https://sputniknews.com/latam/201901191071623926-mexico-pipeline-explosion-damage/ said:
...
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has launched a crackdown on fuel theft. According to Reuters, the local authorities estimate that the country has lost more than $3 billion last year due to rampant gasoline theft.

Meanwhile, fuel shortages have been reported in at least 10 of Mexico's 31 states over past several days, prompting authorities in a number of localities to take special measures. The shortages were reportedly caused by the government's crackdown on huachicoleros, criminals who specialize in illegally tapping pipelines to steal fuel.

As part of the government's measures, state-owned petroleum company Pemex closed several large oil pipelines. Now, fuel is reportedly delivered mostly by tank-cars instead of pipelines, which led to a decrease in supply.

In this regard, Lopez Obrador said that the security of all six major pipelines running through the territory of the country with a total length of 1,600 kilometers (994 miles), must be enhanced.


https://youtu.be/8tp7KQSUry8
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ca.
Explosión en ducto no afecta suministro de gasolina en CDMX: Pemex
18 de Enero de 2019 - 22:21 hs
La empresa llamó a la ciudadanía para acatar indicaciones tras la fuga de combustible que se registró en Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo
Translations
89914a1a6e6510819210d8c7f0c2f5eb.png

A través de sus redes sociales, Petróleos Mexicanos informó que tras la explosión de un ducto en Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo, "que se derivó de la manipulación de una toma clandestina para robo de combustible", este accidente no afecta el suministro de gasolinas en la Ciudad de México.

Pemex realizó un llamado a la ciudadanía para acatar indicaciones tras la fuga de combustible que se registró tras la maniobra de una toma clandestina en el ducto Tuxpan-Tula, en el kilómetro 226 en el municipio de Tlahuelilpan.

Translated from Spanish by Microsoft
Specialized Mexican oil personnel in coordination with federal and local authorities attend the fire and support the population that was affected by this event caused by a clandestine takeover in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo.

En primera etapa, Pemex puso a disposición atender la emergencia 11 ambulancias, 13 médicos de urgencias y dos especialistas; asimismo, se activó la alarma verde en el Hospital de Tula. Los lesionados con quemaduras graves serán referidos al Hospital Norte y Sur de la Ciudad de México.

La dependencia señaló que personal trabaja para sofocar el incendio, mientras se evalúan los daños tanto humanos como estructurales y de producto en las inmediaciones.

"Petróleos Mexicanos se suma al llamado del Presidente de México, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, para prestar auxilio a toda la gente en el sitio.", afirmó la empresa productiva del Estado.

 
This was rather crazy! and tragic! And symbolic to say the least.

The entire country decides to tackle corruption and move in a certain direction and along comes this event and things went terribly tragic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ca.
The death toll is now at 71 with another 76 people injured in the explosion. Pemex’s Chief Executive Octavio Romero told reporters that there had been 10 illegal fuel taps in the same municipality in the last three months alone.

January 18, 2019 - Mexico fuel pipeline blast kills 71, witnesses describe horror
Mexico fuel pipeline blast kills 71, witnesses describe horror | Reuters

TLAHUELILPAN, Mexico - At least 71 people were killed after a pipeline ruptured by suspected fuel thieves exploded in central Mexico, authorities said on Saturday, as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador defended the army despite its failure to clear the site before the blast.

Forensic experts filled body bags with charred human remains in the field where the explosion occurred on Friday evening by the town of Tlahuelilpan in the state of Hidalgo, in one of the deadliest incidents to hit Mexico’s troubled oil infrastructure in years.

One witness described how an almost festive atmosphere among hundreds of local residents filling containers with spilled fuel turned to horror as the blast scattered the crowd in all directions, incinerating clothing and inflicting severe burns.

A number of people at the scene told Reuters that local shortages in gasoline supply since Lopez Obrador launched a drive to stamp out fuel theft had encouraged the rush to the gushing pipeline.

“Everyone came to see if they could get a bit of gasoline for their car, there isn’t any in the gas stations,” said farmer Isaias Garcia, 50. Garcia was at the site with two neighbors, but waited in the car some distance away.

“Some people came out burning and screaming,” he added.

To root out the theft, Lopez Obrador in late December ordered pipelines to be closed. But that led to shortages in central Mexico, including Hidalgo, where local media this week said more than half of the gas stations were at times shut.

In an interview with local television, Hidalgo State Governor Omar Fayad said 71 people were killed and 76 people injured in the explosion, which happened as residents scrambled to get buckets and drums to a gush at the pipeline that authorities said rose up to 23 feet (7 meters) high.

The crackdown on fuel theft has become a litmus test of Lopez Obrador’s drive to tackle corruption in Mexico - and to stop illegal taps draining billions of dollars from the heavily-indebted state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Video on social media showed people filling buckets from the pipeline during daylight hours in the presence of the armed forces before the blast.

But Lopez Obrador, who vowed to continue the crackdown on theft, defended the army in the face of questions about why soldiers failed to prevent the tragedy.

“We’re not going to fight fire with fire,” the veteran leftist said. “We think that people are good, honest, and if we’ve reached these extremes ... it’s because they were abandoned.”

In the aftermath, soldiers and other military personnel guarded the cordoned-off area that was littered with half-burned shoes, clothes and containers.

Hundreds gathered at a local cultural center on Saturday afternoon, hoping to get information about loved ones who disappeared after the explosion. Officials had posted information about DNA tests for identification, and a list of people who had been taken to hospitals.

‘LIKE A PARTY’
Lopez Obrador said the army had been right to avoid a confrontation due to the large number of people seeking to make off with a trove of free fuel - a few liters of which are worth more than the daily minimum wage in Mexico.

Blaming previous governments for neglecting the population, he said the priority was to eradicate the social problems and lack of opportunities that had made people risk their lives. He rejected suggestions the incident was linked to his policy.

Still, Lopez Obrador had vowed to tighten security in sensitive sections of the oil infrastructure, and the ruptured pipeline was only a few miles away from a major oil refinery.

Pemex’s Chief Executive Octavio Romero told reporters that there had been 10 illegal fuel taps in the same municipality in the last three months alone. Neither he nor the president said exactly when the valves to the pipeline were closed.

Relatives of victims stood huddled together, some of them crying, after the massive blast. Much of the rush to siphon off fuel and the chaos of the explosion was captured on mobile phones and began quickly circulating on social media.

Mexican media published graphic pictures of victims from the blast site covered in burns and shorn of their clothes.

Mexican media published graphic pictures of victims from the blast site covered in burns and shorn of their clothes.

Local journalist Veronica Jimenez, 46, arrived at the scene before the explosion where she said there were more than 300 people with containers to collect fuel. “I saw families: mother, father, children,” she told Reuters. “It was like a party...for a moment you could even hear how happy people were.”

When the blast hit, people ran in different directions, pleading for help, some burned and without clothing, she said. “Some people’s skin came off...it was very ugly, horrible, people screamed and cried,” she said. “They shouted the names of their husbands, brothers, their family members.”

Grief-stricken family members blocked access to the field for over half an hour, saying they would not let funeral service vehicles pass until they were told where the dead were being taken.

Lopez Obrador has said his decision to close pipelines has greatly reduced fuel theft, but the death toll has raised questions about potentially unintended consequences.

“There was a gasoline shortage, people one way or another wanted to be able to move around,” said local farmer Ernesto Sierra, 44. “Some even came with their bean pots.”

Slideshow (22 Images)
Mexico fuel pipeline blast kills 71, witnesses describe horror | Reuters
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ca.
This was rather crazy! and tragic! And symbolic to say the least.

The entire country decides to tackle corruption and move in a certain direction and along comes this event and things went terribly tragic.
Symbolic in many ways, the comunity in which happend was San Primitivo (Saint Primitive?) in the municipality of Tlahuelilpan, is a name from Nahuatl origin that means "Place where the lands are irrigated" Escuela Superior Tlahuelilpan :: Antecedentes ...

This explosion, although deadliest, had not been the one and only ... and just in the state of Hidalgo in 2018 ... in the whole country, that's another large history of incidents ...
_https://heraldodemexico.com.mx/estados/explota-bodega-clandestina-de-huachicol-en-tlahuelilpan-hidalgo/ said:
---using google traductor
January 6, 2019
Yesterday night a clandestine warehouse exploded and was used to store stolen hydrocarbons in the Cerro de la Cruz colony, located in the municipality of Tlahuelilpan, so the residents of the surrounding areas were evicted

_https://www.elindependientedehidalgo.com.mx/suman-12-explosiones-relacionadas-con-huachicol/ said:
---using google traductor
August 21, 2018
So far this year, in the state there have already been at least 12 explosions of vehicles, houses and clandestine shots allegedly related to the theft of hydrocarbons, events in which at least one person lost his life.

_https://www.msn.com/es-mx/noticias/mexico/con-este-video-buscan-frenar-compra-de-huachicol-en-hidalgo/ar-BBQgujd said:
---using google traductor
November 11, 2018
With this video, they seek to stop buying huachicol in Hidalgo
In a video broadcast by the Secretary of Public Security in Hidalgo, people are asked not to buy fuel of dubious origin.
The images show the dangers represented by the huachicol traffic in the region, such as explosions and severe damage to the environment, as well as putting entire communities at risk.
SEG PUB_HGO on Twitter
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ca.
_https://www.proceso.com.mx/568365/ropa-de-origen-sintetico-podria-haber-generado-explosion-afirma-gertz-manero said:
---using google traductor

MEXICO CITY (proceso.com.mx) .- Alejandro Gertz Manero, head of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR), indicated that according to the preliminary information, the interaction of high octane gases added to the concentration of many people with clothing of synthetic origin could have generated the explosion in the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline in Tlahuelilpan.

Gertz Manero explained that until now it is a hypothesis subject to verification while progressing in the investigation.

The prosecutor reported that so far there is no person indicted by the explosion of the pipeline.

He said that the FGR is gathering data to recreate the facts and find out the causes that led to the fire.
hmmm? ... he should not start saying hypothesis outloud ...
 
https://www.proceso.com.mx/568343/tlahuelilpan-cuando-la-ordena-de-ductos-transformo-a-un-pueblo-de-agricultores said:
---using google traductor

Tlahuelilpan: when the milking of pipelines transformed a town of farmers
The explosion of a clandestine takeover in Tlahuelilpan, a town of farmers who grow alfalfa and other products, reveals the magnitude of the huachicoleo phenomenon, tolerated for years by the authorities of the three levels. Process toured the area affected, where the reporter Mathieu Tourliere counted 54 charred bodies the early morning of Saturday 20, when people overflowed and began to look for their relatives. Hours later the official death toll would reach 66. In the testimonies gathered the locals refer how years ago the milking of pipelines transformed the peaceful community that now mourns its relatives.

TLAHUELILPAN, Hgo. (Proceso) .- Through the light projected by a reflector, the rigid silhouettes of calcined bodies are drawn on a charred earth. They are watered and in dissimilar positions: one was left upside down, with arms in the air, his hands like claws and his face with a grimace of pain.

It's 2:00 in the morning on Saturday 19. Seven hours before, the place looked like a party: hundreds of men and women, many of them accompanied by children, were piled up under a gasoline geyser more than 10 meters high ejected from an open clandestine takeover in the Tuxpan to Tula pipeline. Dozens of locals collected the fuel with buckets and drums before the impassive gaze of soldiers.

"People overflowed; there was euphoria to fill drums, "admitted the Governor of Hidalgo, Omar Fayad Meneses.

At 6:56 p.m. the euphoria turned to panic. The fuel caught fire and a terrifying flame transformed the cornfield into hell. Men and women ran torched like torches, screaming in pain; others wallowed in the grass and the earth to appease the flames, helped by neighbors who were not hit by fire. Authorities said there were 21 dead instantly and that 71 others were burned to varying degrees. Fifty were reported as missing.

At dawn on Saturday 19, on the ground, the reporter Mathieu Tourliere counted 54 charred bodies. They were watered around the clandestine outlet. With the advance of the hours the number of deaths would reach 66.

Tlahuelilpan is located 124 kilometers north of Mexico City, seven kilometers from Arco Norte and only 15 kilometers from Tula, Hidalgo.

Half of the population is engaged in agriculture. They grow alfalfa - almost 50% of the arable land goes to that legume - as well as corn, chili, pumpkin, tomato, tomato and beans. Another 35% work in nearby companies, such as the Tula Refinery and Thermoelectric; 10% is dedicated to small-scale trade.

In 1974, Petróleos Mexicanos signed agreements with the municipality's farmers to allow the pipelines that transport fuels to pass under their lands. The villagers knew that the yellow signs of "not digging, not building, not drilling" were risk areas, but two years ago they became the guide for drilling and extracting hydrocarbons from the pipelines.

Before, trucks loaded with alfalfa bales, fresh or dried, were circulating on the roads. For about two years, these trucks have hidden containers of gasoline. The sale of plastic jugs and jerry cans in the tianguis on Tuesdays and in the makeshift shops at the foot of the road also shot up.

In a population with precarious income, this illegal activity reactivated the economy of the area.

The vehicle park also grew in Tlahuelilpan, as well as in the neighboring municipalities of Tezontepec, Tlaxcoapan and Tula. The cheap fuel allowed to have more cars. Today Tlahuelilpan suffers from vehicular congestion.

In Tezontepec began to face rival groups that come to load gasoline. The deaths were extended as they were involved in the plundering of people in poverty, who suddenly found themselves with trucks and money.

In just two years, a modest employee dressed in orange uniform who usually travels by truck to work at the Tula Refinery can earn so much money that he can remodel his home and buy a vehicle of the year.

In the last six months, shootings have been heard in the streets of the neighborhoods near Tlahuelilpan. In Cerro de la Cruz, police officers who tried to secure clandestine deposits were beaten twice.

The owners of the fields of cultivation began to observe among their plots women and men with cell phones and dresses in a way unsuitable for agricultural work.


"They are hawks and do not do anything to those who already know us," says a farmer who every week runs his plot in the fields of Tezontepec, where he crosses another of the pipelines that goes from Tula to Salamanca.

In parallel, a wave of workers from Tamaulipas and Veracruz arrived in the area to work at the Miguel Hidalgo Refinery, located six kilometers from Tula, very close to Tlahuelilpan. Many of these employees, who live in privileged conditions, help to open the clandestine takes.

In Tlahuelilpan - a conflictive municipality, according to the villagers - the crimes of car theft and houses began to decline, as the criminals changed their way: today they are dedicated to the theft of fuel.

The huachicoleros of the region sell gasoline up to five pesos a liter. First they offered it discreetly, but in mid-2018 they opened their homes to sell the fuel. (average gas price is +- $20 pesos=+-$1 dollar)

On August 18, 2015 there was a leak in one of the Pemex pipelines that pass through the municipality. Local authorities evicted a sector of the population and housed it in the municipal auditorium.

On May 17, 2017, the first major leak in the pipeline that goes from Tuxpan to Tula, near the place that today mourns Tlahuelilpan, was registered. The fuel ran through some of the blackwater canals that irrigate the crops in the area.

That day also people threw themselves into the channels to take away the gasoline that floated on the water. The farmers, who started buying cheap fuel for their cars, made large lines at the edge of the canal.

Last year, this community faced five leaks of gasoline and three fires in the pipelines. In one of them, Ángel Barañano, director of Civil Protection of the municipality, saved the lives of the locals and became a hero.

The inhabitants do not know if there is a safety protocol in case of fuel leakage, drills or information about it.

Guadalupe López Aguilar lives about 100 meters from the pipeline. On the afternoon of Friday the 18th, dozens of people with jerry cans, jugs and bottles passed through the street. In the distance I saw the geyser spitting gasoline 10 meters high.

"It was an old shot," he says. Point your finger at the distance and say: "There is one here, another there, another beyond."

A neighbor who asks to omit his name agrees: "That shot was two years old, but half a year ago the problem became more acute; all knew of its existence: the municipal, state and even the military authorities. Why did not they do anything?

He and Mrs. Guadalupe remember that a group of soldiers guarded the area at the time when the population looted the fuel.

"Why did not they tell them there was a risk, that they should not enter? Right now the federal government comes and pure show, "says the neighbor.

Mrs. Guadalupe deplores: "This could be avoided."

The soldiers who are part of the security fence in the area walk with their weapons down. "Yes we were when the gasoline came out and the people arrived, but they (the huachicoleros) have a strategy: they send the women and children ahead and we can not do anything," says one of the soldiers.

At 00:45 hours on Saturday 19 President Andrés Manuel López Obrador arrived in the area of the tragedy. With a stern expression, he quickly entered the Colegio de Bachilleres de Tlahuelilpan, where he joined the members of his cabinet.

- Does the strategy change? Someone asked.

-No, it does not change ... On the contrary. This unfortunately shows that we must end this practice that led to this tragedy.

He added: "It is not just this municipality or this state. It is a practice that has become widespread; People have not had alternatives. We are going to give him opportunities so that they are not forced to take this risky path. "

And he promised: "There will be more vigilance and attention."

It is the same dawn and hundreds of people, desperate and anxious, break the fence of the military and enter the place of tragedy. They walk on the scorched earth. When they see a body, they light it with their cell phones. Distressed, they look for their relatives and acquaintances.

There is a piercing cry. A woman has just identified the body of her son, lying a few meters away from the clandestine outlet. The neighbors are silent in solidarity. Mourning is collective.

This report was published in the 2203 edition of the magazine Proceso, which has already begun to circulate.
 
This report indicates the source of the ignition was propagated by a spark from synthetic clothing worn by the participants.
A very tragic situation indeed. RIP!

I always cringe when I witness people filling plastic container's with gasoline, or filling there tanks while taking on cell phone.

Update: Reports serious to 7 injured by explosion Tlahuelilpan Tlahuelilpan: heridos internados en ISSSTE están graves

Gertz: multitud, gases y chispa apuntan a origen de explosión Jannet López Mexico City / 20.01.2019 05:25:35

“Primera impresión pericial”. El fiscal general explica que la fricción de la ropa sintética de la población y la gasolina de muy alto octanaje pudo generar el estallido; aumentan a 76 los muertos y hay 71 heridos

Twenty-four hours after the explosion in a clandestine takeover in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo, the attorney general, Alejandro Gertz Manero, explained that one of the hypotheses is that the friction of gas from premium gasoline and people's synthetic clothing generated a spark that activated the fuel

"At the time of the incident that pipeline was loaded with very high octane gasoline. That generates a series of gases of a great lethality and for such reason, in the moment in which the people begin to approach and to move of a multitudinous way, many with clothes of synthetic content, is the possibility of generating electrical reactions ".
 
Colombia started the 2019 with a terribly bomb explosion in a military school and then this sad event in Mexico.I`m wondering if is not a symbolic warning about bad times approaching to Sud-America...Wait and see...
 
Been seeing Texas in the news, lately. A wonderful sanctuary city. Freemason's operate this physicality and many others.

Translated from Spanish by Microsoft
@michouymau the Foundation will initiate the transfer of some injured minors to the "Shriners Hospitals for Children" specialized hospital in Galveston, Texas, reports the Governor @omarfayad #Tlalhuelilpan #ConAMLOvsHuachicol

Borderland Beat: Mexican children hurt in pipeline explosion treated at Texas Shriners
Sunday, January 20, 2019 Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat-thank you BB follower-The Chron 2-3 minute Read
Snip:

One would hope only the bad guys were killed in this explosion—unfortunately most were innocents including children. Children are being triaged to determine which will be sent to Texas Shriners. You can help by making a donation to Shriners, a 501C3 nonprofit, state of the art facility. Shriners Hospitals for Children attains highly coveted 4-Star Charity Navigator rating. Rating showcases organization’s commitment to transparency and fiscal responsibility.

A Galveston hospital will be treating patients who were burned in a deadly pipeline explosion Friday in a small town in Mexico.

A spokesman for Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston confirmed that the hospital would be receiving patients injured in the massive fireball that has so far killed at least 73 people and injured 74 others.
 
The number of people who died from a gasoline pipeline explosion in central Mexico has risen to 85, Mexico’s health minister said on Sunday.
Death toll from Mexico pipeline blast rises to 85: health minister | Reuters

I will be quoting from this article:

January 20, 2019 - Explainer: Mexico's fuel woes rooted in chronic theft, troubled refineries
Explainer: Mexico's fuel woes rooted in chronic theft, troubled refineries | Reuters

I think, the title is some what misleading - the chronic theft and so-called "troubled refineries" are only symptoms of a much bigger problem and that has to do with mismanagement due to foreign (US) oil and gas investment cartels, interfering in Mexico's Pemex's production and distributing franchises.

Reforms by former President Enrique Pena Nieto may have been the main catalyst that has led to the current crisis?

Theft escalated in recent years following reforms to the country’s oil sector by previous President Enrique Pena Nieto, who liberalized the industry for foreign investment. In turn, retail prices rose, giving cartels an opportunity to undercut those prices through black-market sales of gasoline.

So, who is behind the foreign investment? One of the largest is the Exxon Mobil Corporation, who's top CEO was former US Secretary of State , Rex Tillerson.

While the vast majority of the stations are Pemex franchises, a growing number belong to new private entrants, including giant Exxon Mobil Corp and trading firm Glencore Plc, which in some cases import their own fuel.

For foreign investment Exxon Mobil to get a foothold in the Country, measures were orchestrated to downgrade Mexico's Pemex, now operating at only one-third of their capacity.

For years, Pemex’s six domestic oil refineries have operated well below their capacity, due to a mix of underinvestment, deferred maintenance and frequent accidents, including deadly explosions that have provoked costly stoppages.

Last year, the refineries operated at about a third of their 1.63-million-barrel-per day crude processing capacity, compared with 2013, when they processed nearly 1.4 million barrels of crude a day.

If Pemex was operating all six domestic oil refineries at near capacity - would there be a need for receiving "imported fuel"?

Mexico has grown increasingly dependent on fuel imports in recent years, with imported gasoline, distillates and liquefied petroleum gas growing last year to about two-thirds of total demand. In 2016, imports and domestic production each accounted for roughly half.

Mexico has 16 marine terminals capable of receiving imported fuel, plus 74 storage facilities and over 8,800 kilometers of pipelines. The imports flow mainly through the Pajaritos, Tuxpan and Veracruz terminals on the country’s Gulf coast, which have recently turned into bottlenecks for the imports.

While the volumes are much lower than supplies transported by sea, rail shipments of fuels across the U.S.-Mexico land border have also grown substantially as U.S. firms have capitalized on Mexico’s growing demand, hitting record highs several times since early 2017, according to data from the Association of American Railroads, the largest U.S. rail trade group.

Is the new President, Lopez Obrador just extending the former President's reforms - by distributing Pemex's fuel by truck, at a much higher cost while new foreign investment chains "import" their own supplies over the US/Mexican Border at a much cheaper price, undercutting domestic production?

The new government began the closure of major fuel pipelines on December 27. Production at Pemex’s Gulf coast Madero and Minatitlan refineries has also been partially or completely halted, which contributes to the need for imported fuels as a replacement.

Lopez Obrador hopes some 5,000 tanker trucks can distribute supplies to over 11,000 gas stations scattered across the country. While the vast majority of the stations are Pemex franchises, a growing number belong to new private entrants, including giant Exxon Mobil Corp and trading firm Glencore Plc, which in some cases import their own fuel.

The cost of transporting gasoline and diesel by tanker trucks is nearly 14 times more expensive than via pipelines, according to a study by Mexico’s Federal Commission for Economic Competition, or Cofece.

But Lopez Obrador - has a plan ...

Both Pemex and Lopez Obrador have sought to assure an increasingly restless public that there is plenty of gasoline and that refineries and other key installations are being supervised by 4,000 soldiers. He has also pleaded with citizens to be patient while the new distribution system is normalized.

Yet ... ?

Lopez Obrador’s team has yet to explain how it will finance the much more expensive distribution costs it is now incurring.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ca.
Colombia started the 2019 with a terribly bomb explosion in a military school and then this sad event in Mexico.I`m wondering if is not a symbolic warning about bad times approaching to Sud-America...Wait and see...

The one in Colombia was sorrounded in secrecy, particularly due to the newly elected president’s reosance with Uribe’s (former president) war footing. The whole thing was blamed on ELN and if proven or even if the public is convinced of it, would put a stop on the peace process that was underway. Perpetual war.
 
The one in Colombia was sorrounded in secrecy, particularly due to the newly elected president’s reosance with Uribe’s (former president) war footing. The whole thing was blamed on ELN and if proven or even if the public is convinced of it, would put a stop on the peace process that was underway. Perpetual war.

Some intel on the Columbia event.

11-14 minute Read
Snip:
At approximately 9:30 in the morning on Thursday, January 17th 2019, a suicide car bomb (SVBIED) detonated inside the General Santander National Police Academy, located in the Southern part of Colombia’s capital Bogota. The explosion killed at least 21 people, and injured 68 more. After an initial investigation, the Colombian government blamed the revolutionary Marxist guerrilla group ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, or ‘National Liberation Front’ in English), who have been fighting the government since 1964. On January 21st, four days after the blast, ELN issued a statement in which it claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that the police academy was a legitimate military target and that the attack was a response to alleged ceasefire violations by the government. The explosion was the deadliest car bomb attack in the country’s capital since 2003 when FARC detonated a car bomb outside the El Nogal Club – killing 36. FARC signed a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016, and since then ELN has been stepping up their anti-government attacks. Thursday’s attack took place amid stalled peace talks in Cuba, that were subsequently called off by Colombia after ELN took credit for the attack. Now, the Colombian government has demanded that Cuba extradite the 10 ELN negotiators present for the now-cancelled peace talks.
 
Back
Top Bottom