Sheinbaum promises ban on large-scale tourism developments in Mahahual: Friday’s mañanera recapped

Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds

💰 Mega-investment push in Veracruz: From Coatzacoalcos, the CEO of Pemex announced a 93-billion-peso petrochemical and fertilizer plan. Sheinbaum said that her administration is investing 190 billion pesos on infrastructure, energy, water, environment and healthcare projects in Veracruz.

🌊🌿 Mahahual to be protected, only ecotourism allowed: On World Environment Day, Sheinbaum and Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena said the government will issue a special decree to protect Mahahual in Quintana Roo, blocking large-scale tourism projects like the recently canceled Royal Caribbean megaproject and prioritizing community-backed, environmentally friendly tourism.

⚖️ Ayotzinapa case: arrest of ex-soldier in U.S.: Sheinbaum confirmed the arrest in California of former soldier Enrique Martínez Chávez, wanted in Mexico for enforced disappearance in connection with the 2014 Ayotzinapa case. She said he is subject to a Mexican arrest warrant and will face justice here, with the Attorney General’s Office to provide further details.

👩‍🏫🏛️ No force against CNTE teachers’ camp in CDMX: Sheinbaum ruled out evicting the CNTE-affiliated teachers’ protest camp in Mexico City’s historic center, saying authorities won’t use force and will keep seeking an agreement through dialogue, even though she insists the government cannot meet key demands due to budgetary reasons.

Why today’s mañanera matters

President Claudia Sheinbaum held her Friday morning press conference in Coatzacoalcos, a port city in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz. The president has often held her Friday mañaneras outside Mexico City, but before today had not done so in some time.

Early in the press conference, new Pemex CEO Juan Carlos Carpio announced a 93-billion-peso (US $5.3 billion) investment plan aimed at revitalizing Mexico’s petrochemical and fertilizer industries. He said that the money — which will be invested in various projects between 2026 and 2030 — would come from both the government and the private sector.

Federal officials also presented information about infrastructure investment in Veracruz. Among the projects set to be built is a new bridge — the Puente Coatzacoalcos III — that will cross the Coatzacoalcos River on Federal Highway 180. Infrastructure, Communications and Transport Minister Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina said that the bridge will be the longest and highest bridge built during the current term of government. Construction of the 5.8-billion-peso project is scheduled to be completed in early 2030.

Sheinbaum said that around 190 billion pesos (US $10.9 billion) will be invested in a range of projects in Veracruz during her term in government.

That amount includes investment in petrochemical, fertilizer, highway, water, environmental and healthcare projects, she said. She said that additional funds are being invested in education and in welfare programs in Veracruz.

“It’s a historic investment for Veracruz,” she said.

Also of note at today’s mañanera, held on World Environment Day, was the announcement that the government will issue a decree aimed at protecting the environment of Mahahual, a town on the southern coast of the state of Quintana Roo. Sheinbaum also acknowledged the arrest in the United States of a man wanted in connection with one of Mexico’s most notorious criminal cases — the disappearance of 43 students in Guerrero more than a decade ago.

Sheinbaum: Only ecotourism projects to be allowed in Mahahual

Two weeks after the federal Environment Ministry canceled Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Mexico megaproject in Mahahual, Quintana Roo, Sheinbaum said that the government intended to classify Mahahual as a protected area.

“[Regarding] this area of Mahahual, where a large-scale tourism project was to be built, the objective is to give it a category of protection so that only ecotourism can take place there,” she said.

“… Today we announce that we will work with the community in the south of Quintana Roo [to draw up] a special decree for this area so that large-scale tourism projects aren’t developed,” Sheinbaum said.

Environment Minister Alicia Bárcena joined the press conference by video link from Quintana Roo to speak about the planned decree.

“President, you instructed me to go to Mahahual to meet with the community. Mahahual is not just a tourism destination, it’s an area with communities that have been guardians of their seas, their mangroves and their jungles for generations,” she said.

“We’ve listened to their concerns, their proposals and their vision in order to develop, together, environmentally-friendly tourism that allows economic development and employment to be combined with environmental protection. For that reason, together with the [local] population, a decree will be drawn up … to protect [the environment] from large-scale tourism,” Bárcena said.

Sheinbaum acknowledges arrest in US of ex-soldier wanted in connection with Ayotzinapa case

A reporter asked the president about the arrest in California on Wednesday of Enrique Martínez Chávez, a former Mexican soldier wanted in connection with the 2014 disappearance and presumed murder in Guerrero of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College.

The Los Angeles Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the arrest on social media.

“Martínez is wanted in his home country of Mexico for enforced disappearance of persons while a member of the Mexican military. He’ll remain in ICE custody until he can be sent home,” ICE Los Angeles said on X.

Sheinbaum said that Martínez was subject to an arrest warrant in Mexico. She said he was detained during an ICE immigration raid and had not been specifically targeted because he was wanted in Mexico.

Sheinbaum said that the federal Attorney General’s Office would provide more information about “who this person is and why he is important” to investigations related to the Ayotzinapa case, which still hasn’t been resolved almost 12 years after the 43 young men were abducted in Iguala, Guerrero, on September 26, 2014.

Other soldiers have been arrested in connection with the abduction, in which the Guerreros Unidos crime gang, Iguala municipal police and the Mexican Army allegedly colluded.

Sheinbaum rules out possibility of removing teachers’ protest camp in CDMX historic center

Sheinbaum said that authorities had no intention of clearing a protest camp set up by CNTE-affiliated teachers in the historic center of Mexico City.

“We’re not going to evict them because that’s what they want,” she said.

“… That is what they want, that is what they’re seeking to provoke,” Sheinbaum said.

She reiterated that the government is seeking to reach an agreement with protesting teachers through dialogue.

Earlier this week, Sheinbaum stressed that authorities would not use force against protesting teachers, who have tried to set up camp in the Zócalo, Mexico City’s main square that will host the FIFA Fan Festival during the upcoming World Cup.

Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that teachers have “legitimate demands,” but stressed that it is not possible for the government to meet all of them. She has said on repeated occasions that the government can’t meet all of the protesting teachers’ demands — among which is a demand for a 100% pay rise and the repeal of changes to their pension system — for budgetary reasons.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])