The collapse of Line 12, along with its unfortunate 26 deaths, dozens of injuries and millions in infrastructure losses, was not enough for the Government of Mexico City to fundamentally rectify the serious deterioration that the Collective Transportation System is undergoing. Subway. This, not even in the logic of the early presidential campaign of the head of government, which has already been challenged before the Attorney General’s Office by militants from her own party, who accuse her close team of the probable commission of electoral crimes . Proselytizing exercise that, at least, should translate into a government administration free of preventable fatal incidents, especially when someone had the idea that “successful policies in CDMX” were the center of promotion for Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, within the framework of the tours he makes through the states of the country.
In contrast, the recurring complaints that users raise due to the serious deficiencies in the service provided by the Metro are public knowledge, among them: outbreaks of fire in carriages, presence of smoke on platforms, useless escalators and mechanical failures. Until the lack of adequate maintenance and investment once again surprised the citizens of the capital with a painful train crash on Line 3, which once again caused a significant number of victims and material losses. Apparently, the operation of the Metro lines not only continues to operate from Post-its on their supervision boards, as was evidenced after the 2021 fire in the Control Center of this transport system; rather, it continues to be a threat to Dr. Sheinbaum’s presidential aspirations.
It represents a threat because each negative incident in the country’s capital only exhibits the contradictions in the leadership and management capacity of the head of government. Perhaps the most serious for her aspirations, derived from poor crisis management by the City Government, is the weakness in perception generated by the forced media coverage of governors and leaders of Morena. The rain of displays and statements from these partisan profiles can only be understood by voters as Dr. Sheinbaum’s scant expertise in resolving the crisis by her own means. Means that, by the way, are not minor. Thus, at critical moments, where autonomy should be proven, its survival is understood as a dependency that, in the future, will take its toll.
In addition, the head of government calls not to politicize the train crash that occurred on Line 3, but the communication strategy of the city government is the first thing that motivates. After learning of this fact, the Mobility sector authorities were not responsible for reacting to the media in order to guide —based on a technical narrative— the public conversation about what happened last Saturday. On the contrary, the voice of political members of her cabinet was privileged —with real possibilities of succeeding Dr. Sheinbaum—; who, before giving an account of the facts, began by politically insulting any legitimate questioning from the press.
Also, the Government of Mexico City promises transparency in the clarification of the facts, but, according to different journalistic reports, from the first moment its officials dedicated themselves to hindering the free expression of the victims when leaving the stations. Metro affected, by inhibiting contacts with reporters located in the place. Without leaving aside the inconsistencies in the official lines of communication, by denying cuts or under-exercises in the budget of this transport system, when the figures of the public accounts of the capital government and the analyzes of specialists prove minimum levels of investment compared to those assigned in the last ten years, as well as millions of pesos not exercised by the Metro authorities.
It is uphill to question the dedication and integrity that Dr. Sheinbaum seeks to bring to her work, but the achievements of her team in maintaining basic infrastructure and the deficient communication criteria around her candidacy threaten to derail her aspirations in 2024.
