Erik de la Reguera: A long string of irregularities preceded the landslide on line 12

what happened?

Late Monday evening local time (the night before Tuesday Swedish time) a train bridge collapsed between Olivos and Tezonco stations on Line 12 of the Mexico City metro network.

A subway fell on the busy road that ran under the train bridge. At least 20 people are said to have been killed and many injuredThe rescue operation is still underway to try to free the trapped people from the wreckage of trains and cars.

What do we know about the background?

Line 12 is the latest addition to Mexico City’s large (and well-functioning) subway system. Construction of the line, which cost nearly SEK 13 billion – more than 50 percent of the original budget – opened in 2012 and is 24 kilometers long, nearly half of it on the type of soaring bridges that have now collapsed. It stretches from the Iztapalapa slum in the southeast to the central parts of the city.

Early reports of construction fraud and suspected corruption As early as 2014, authorities were forced to shut down the line for several months for repair work, and an investigation resulted in penalties of 33 government employees and a fine of SEK 1 billion for the construction company.

After the Great Earthquake of September 2017, more repair work was required. Residents of the neighborhood surrounding the train bridge say they are experiencing a lack and alertness Twitter About the stakes of the race in October last year.

who is in Charge?

After all the warnings of wrongdoing and fraud, it can come to the point that the collapse of a train bridge over a heavily trafficked road is nothing but a scandal – and of course an unbelievable tragedy for the victims and their relatives.

But providing evidence of the line official – who received the bribe or was aware of the fraud – is more complicated. Hence, it becomes easier to refer to the politically responsible persons. Current Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard was Mayor of Mexico City when the line was built, which has been troublesome for many years to him and can now also tarnish the image of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Ebrard’s successor as mayor, Miguel Angel Mancera, also bears political responsibility because he was in power during the 2014 reforms and those that were (or were not) after the 2017 earthquake. The reforms were not enough.

Read more:

Many died when a train bridge collapsed in Mexico