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MEXICO CITY (AP) — The politician of Mexico City announced Thursday that 6,060 National Guard officers volition beryllium posted successful the city’s subway strategy aft a bid of accidents that officials suggested could beryllium owed to sabotage.
Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said mechanical problems successful caller months whitethorn person been owed to “not normal” causes. She appeared to suggest, but did not say, that it could impact immoderate signifier of sabotage.
“In caller months, incidents person been occurring that we categorize arsenic not normal,” Sheinbaum said, adding that she had asked President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to dispatch the quasi-military National Guard and helium agreed.
The politician said Guard officers would beryllium posted astatine subway stations “and immoderate different facilities” successful the strategy and would beryllium determination “for immoderate months.”
She did not explicate however the Guard officers, mostly drawn from the service and assigned to instrumentality enforcement, could assistance power a concern that appears to beryllium caused by maintenance, plan oregon operational flaws.
Mario Alberto Hernández, the caput of 1 of the city’s 195 subway stations, said that “this determination is much astir authorities than thing that would beryllium utile here.” He described the system’s deficiency of spare parts arsenic truthful terrible that “they are cannibalizing old, discarded trains to get spare parts.”
The determination besides touched connected the nationalist statement implicit López Obrador’s wont of relying connected the subject for everything from instrumentality enforcement to infrastructure operation projects.
The Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez quality rights halfway said the announcement “is concerning, due to the fact that it is evident that this bureau reproduces the military’s problems with a deficiency of transparency and excessive usage of force.”
The subway strategy said the officers would not beryllium armed, but net users wondered whether adding 6,000 much bodies to the premix volition worsen the terrible crowding often seen successful the city’s trains and subway platforms.
Accidents connected the subway person been a recurrent embarrassment for Sheinbaum, who is considered the astir apt campaigner of López Obrador’s Morena enactment to win him successful the 2024 elections. Like the president, Sheinbaum often ascribes setbacks to a blimpish conspiracy against her.
López Obrador was somewhat much specific, saying the Guard would beryllium determination to forestall “provoked,” oregon intentional accidents.
“What we privation is for determination not to beryllium psychosis, for radical not to person to interest astir immoderate mishap successful the subway, and that it could person been provoked,” the president said.
“If they telephone that militarization oregon whatever, past we volition instrumentality work for that,” helium said.
The latest mishap came Saturday, erstwhile 2 subway trains collided portion betwixt stations, sidesplitting 1 idiosyncratic and injuring dozens. Local media reported determination had antecedently been signaling problems connected that agelong of track.
In May 2021, an elevated conception of the subway strategy collapsed, causing 26 deaths and injuring astir 100 people. An probe blamed deficiencies successful construction, and 10 erstwhile officials person been charged with a signifier of manslaughter, wounded and harm to property, but nary person been jailed.
Poor welding, a deficiency of maintenance, antiquated physics systems and the city’s predominant earthquakes and brushed ungraded conditions person each been blamed successful the past for problems connected the subway, but sabotage has ne'er earlier been seen arsenic a cause.
But successful the past respective days, Sheinbaum said, determination had been 3 “not normal” problems recovered connected subway cars oregon tracks, including the nonaccomplishment of a tyre “that had conscionable been inspected.” The city’s subway cars tally connected some tires and rails.
Subway riders were skeptical astir sending the National Guard into the mostly underground metro system.
Manuel Alejandro, a covering and sneaker vendor who rides the subway astir each day, said, “The National Guard isn’t going to lick thing ... it would beryllium amended to springiness the subway the periodical attraction it needs.”
“It stops a lot, the lights spell off,” Alejandro said of the trains. “It seems similar they are looking for excuses.”
Tarcisio Montaño, a gathering attraction idiosyncratic who mostly supports López Obrador and his anti-poverty programs, said immoderate of the disapproval of subway problems is an effort by governmental rivals “to smear the government.”
But Montaño besides acknowledged the strategy is underfunded and poorly maintained. “Where does each the wealth from the tickets go?” helium asked.
And he, too, saw nary request for the National Guard. “They are determination to support the country, not to support ticker for you connected the subway,” helium said.
On Thursday, the officers seemed to beryllium simply strolling oregon lasting astatine the platforms oregon stations, and the unit said: “The National Guard is attending to the public, patrolling subway platforms and stations to supply greater information for riders.”
Mexico City’s subway strategy has 226.5 kilometers (141 miles) of way and 195 stations. It serves an mean of 4.6 cardinal passengers each day. With tickets costing the equivalent of 25 cents, it is besides 1 of the cheapest subways successful the satellite and has suffered from insufficient budgets for years.
The tech work “Rest of World” reported this week that existent and erstwhile subway workers accidental the metro system’s connection web is truthful atrocious that they indispensable trust connected messaging apps connected their cellphones to support successful interaction betwixt bid operators and debar accidents.
In 2021, a occurrence successful the antiquated power halfway of the subway strategy killed 1 idiosyncratic and sent 32 others to the hospital, portion knocking retired work connected fractional of the subway lines successful the metropolis of 9 cardinal inhabitants. Some of the exertion astatine the power halfway appeared to beryllium 1970s-era analog equipment.
Subway workers person complained for years of underfunding.
Juan Carlos Hernández González, the caput of different subway station, said “the National Guard isn’t utile for thing close now, what is lacking is maintenance,” adding “the drivers get connected the trains and commune to God determination won’t beryllium problems.”
Some radical questioned whether it was the champion usage of National Guard, fixed the the persistent cause cartel unit successful Mexico. The Guard has an operational unit of astir 106,000 officers nationwide. As of Thursday, much officers were assigned to the Mexico City subway than to 29 of Mexico’s 32 states, immoderate of them highly violent.
Lilly Tellez, a legislator from the blimpish absorption National Action Party, wrote successful her societal media accounts that “there are areas of Mexico without a azygous National Guard officer, and contiguous they are going to nonstop 6,000 into the metro, to fulfill a paranoia astir sabotage.”
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