International
López Obrador challenges Mexican Supreme Court ruling on infrastructure megaprojects
May 19 |
Hours after Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a government agreement declaring large infrastructure projects as “national security” works is unconstitutional, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador published a similar order in the Official Journal of the Federation in clear defiance of the high court’s ruling.
The Court made clear that the federal government cannot simply decree that tourist trains or other public works projects are matters of “national security” because that violates the public’s right to information about such infrastructure.
However, on Thursday afternoon, a similar agreement went into effect giving that label to several projects, among them the Mayan Train, a controversial mega-project in the Mexican southeast that the president wants to finish before the end of his term in 2024.
López Obrador has tried to speed it up by exempting it from normal permits and public reporting on the grounds that it is vital for the country’s security.
The ruling is the latest in a series of setbacks for the president, who has sought to expand the discretionary powers of the executive.
At the moment it is unclear whether Thursday’s court ruling only affects the public’s right to access information on spending, costs and other data on such projects, or whether it also repeals the fast-track permitting procedure. The court is scheduled to discuss and vote Monday on the overreach and implications of the ruling.
Unlike the 2021 ruling, which did not mention specific projects by name but referred to infrastructure in general, Thursday’s ruling decreed that the Mayan Train and the economic corridor that will cross the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest part of the country, as well as three airports in that area of the southeast, were of national security.
López Obrador is upset with the highest court for dismissing some of his electoral reform initiatives, and has called for a change to make the Supreme Court an elected body. Currently, the president suggests the shortlists of potential justices, but the Senate chooses them.
In July, the government invoked national security powers to advance the Mayan Train construction project, a tourist railroad along Mexico’s Caribbean coast that threatens an area of caves where some of the oldest human remains in North America have been discovered.
The government had paused the project in 2022 after activists won an injunction against the route because it opened a strip of jungle for the tracks without first submitting an environmental impact statement.
But the government invoked national security powers to resume construction. The measure also makes it easier for the government to withhold information on such projects.
International
El Chapo’s son Joaquín Guzmán López pleads guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges
Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, pleaded guilty on Monday to drug trafficking charges in a U.S. court, months after his brother Ovidio reached a similar plea agreement, according to local media reports.
The defendant appeared before a federal court in Chicago early Monday afternoon and changed his previous plea in the case, the Chicago Tribune reported. U.S. authorities accuse him of forming, together with his three brothers, the cartel faction known as “Los Chapitos.”
The group is believed to have continued the operations of El Chapo, who has been serving a life sentence in the United States since 2019.
Guzmán López, 39, was arrested after landing in Texas in a small aircraft alongside cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
International
Venezuela authorizes return flights as U.S. continues deportations amid rising tensions
The arrival of U.S. aircraft carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued regularly despite rising tensions between Washington and Caracas over President Donald Trump’s military deployment in the Caribbean.
Trump maintains that the deployment is part of an anti-narcotics operation, while Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insists the true objective is to remove him from power and seize the nation’s oil resources.
Venezuela’s aviation authority has “received a request from the United States government to resume repatriation flights for Venezuelan migrants from that country to Venezuela,” the Ministry of Transportation said in a statement .
“Under the instructions of President Nicolás Maduro, authorization has been granted for these aircraft to enter our airspace,” it added.
Caracas will permit two Eastern Airlines flights to land on Wednesday and Friday.
Migration remains one of the Trump administration’s flagship issues. On Monday, the U.S. president held a meeting with his National Security Council to discuss the situation in Venezuela, a day after confirming he had spoken with Maduro by phone, without offering further details.
According to the Venezuelan government, roughly 75 deportation flights have been carried out this year, returning at least 13,956 Venezuelans from the United States.
International
20,000 rounds stolen from german army after driver leaves cargo unattended
The German army confirmed the theft of a shipment of ammunition that occurred a week ago while it was being transported by a civilian delivery driver, a military spokesperson told AFP, confirming earlier media reports.
According to Der Spiegel and the regional broadcaster MDR, around 20,000 rounds of ammunition were stolen from an unguarded parking lot near Magdeburg, in eastern Germany, while the driver was asleep in a nearby hotel. No information has been released regarding the identity of the suspects, and the military declined to specify the exact type or amount of ammunition taken.
Authorities have also not indicated how the perpetrators knew the cargo would be left unattended.
“The theft was discovered upon delivery at the barracks,” the German army spokesperson said.
A police spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that an investigation has been opened but refused to provide further details “for tactical reasons.”
Sources close to the German military, cited by Der Spiegel, believe it is unlikely the theft was a coincidence. They suspect the thieves waited for the driver to stop for the night before striking.
Der Spiegel also reported that the Defense Ministry normally requires two drivers for this type of transport to ensure the cargo is constantly monitored. However, in this case only one driver was assigned, meaning the civilian transport company failed to comply with the security protocols.
El Chapo’s son Joaquín Guzmán López pleads guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges
Venezuela authorizes return flights as U.S. continues deportations amid rising tensions
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