“There is information that in some areas Pemex, the authority, could not enter. They were reserved areas, or were run or managed by unionized workers. That has already been resolved. They were informed that Pemex and the federal government would take care of strategic facilities, “said the President, to express question HOWEVER whether the union of Carlos Romero Deschamps participated or participate in the robbery.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that joint forces of the Mexican federal government intervened the monitoring system of Petróleos Mexicanos ( Pemex ) to stop the theft of fuel, a huge drain of national goods. He reported that there are three officials directly involved, who are already under criminal proceedings. AMLO presented this morning the Joint Plan of Attention to the Strategic Installations of Pemex.
“The former directors of Pemex knew about the theft. But I have no evidence to say that they participated, “said the Mexican President. “It is a great robbery to the Nation”.
Forces of the Navy, the Army, the new administration of Pemex and the Attorney General’s Office ( PGR ) participate in the operation to stop the theft. Other agencies also take part in this program. López Obrador said that only 20 percent of the fuels stolen from Pemex are by “milking” pipes, and the rest is “from above,” that is, from within the government itself. The Chief Executive said that milking is “just a screen”.
“There is information that in some areas Pemex, the authority, could not enter. They were reserved areas, or were run or managed by unionized workers. That has already been resolved. They were informed that Pemex and the federal government would take care of strategic facilities , “said the President, to express question HOWEVER whether the union of Carlos Romero Deschamps participated or participate in the robbery.
The President affirmed that he will present an initiative where the theft of gasoline becomes a serious crime without access to bail.
He said he has not had contact with Romero Deschamps. But the Secretary of the Interior, Olga Sánchez Cordero, did speak with him and told him that “we are not going to tolerate anyone, whether a high-level worker or a unionized worker.” Carlos Romero Deschamps has been accused of corruption. López Obrador has promised, several times, that the union will have internal democracy.
“Many companies, when working on a construction site, bought stolen fuel. I’m calling them to not do that. In large works, there were warehouses where cheap diesel and gasoline were sold. It was done in an open, shameless way, “he said.
The war for the huachicol is already with the cartels, direct, and the State also has lost it
The head of the Ministry of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval González, specified that 15 federal government institutions participate in the joint plan. He reported that the Army and Navy have established surveillance in 58 facilities considered strategic. Among them are six refineries, 39 dispatch and storage terminals, pumping stations and the Mexico Control Center. He added that the plan identified points such as controlling access to facilities, monitoring the control room and vertical tanks.
The person in charge of the Office of the Attorney General, Alejandro Gertz Manero, said that the theft of fuel “was handled from the inside” and not from the outside. It established that “there was a group of individuals who were in charge of this system,” who are already investigated by the country’s security institutions. He added that at least three people are those investigated for the theft of gasoline.
“It is a flight of public money, it is a robbery of the nation’s goods, the money of all Mexicans; It is a robbery that last year meant in general terms a loss for Pemex of the order of 60 billion pesos, “said the President. He assured that with the amount lost this year, it would be enough to finance 40 percent of a refinery and with the losses of three years a new refinery could be paid. “That’s why we are going to fight this robbery and inside the Pemex facilities […] They are huachicoleros from below and huachicoleros from above,” he said.
The Kingdom of the huachicol: every day, 500 trucks load LP gas 25 minutes from the Zocalo de Puebla
López Obrador indicated that last year more than 600 pipes were stolen daily, which are estimated to be 15 thousand liters each, which represents an amount of around 200 million pesos a day. “If we think about 600 pipes a day, then we are not only talking about the so-called ‘huachicol’, the milking of pipelines: we are talking about a plan that is linked to the interior of the government and that is based on a fuel distribution system; because it is not easy, distribute and sell 600 daily pipes of gasoline “.
The President said that there were some areas within Petróleos Mexicanos that were managed by unionized workers and therefore could not be accessed. “There is information that a few areas could not enter Pemex, the authority, because they were reserved areas or were conducted, managed by unionized workers, but that was resolved, we swam we informed the union leaders that Pemex and the federal government and the Armed Forces were going to take care of strategic facilities. In this plan there is no reserved area or any area where you can not intervene. ”
López Obrador indicated that last year more than 600 pipes were stolen daily, which are estimated to be 15 thousand liters each, which represents an amount of around 200 million pesos a day. Photo: Cuartoscuro
López Obrador reported that two areas were intervened in the first stage of this plan and said that the central area of the country is where more robberies are recorded. “One area that was intervened was the monitoring because it was found that they were violating the rules there is a system to know the pressure of the cars and there was a day when no valves were closed. Another fact is that a carrier was stopped in and out of a refinery. The rest we can not give it to know because the investigations are open “.
López Obrador said that since the last six years it was known about fuel theft in Pemex but the administrations last ignored. “For three sexenios knew of the theft, but since 2000-2003 it was accepted that they robbed 12 billion pesos and now we are talking about more than 60 billion pesos, that is, has been growing without doing anything”.
Octavio Romero Oropeza, director of Pemex, explained that the daily average of fuels amounted to 30 billion in 2016; 50 billion in 2017 and reached 66 billion pesos in 2018. He indicated that since December 20 this joint plan for combating hydrocarbon theft began and the pipeline control system of Pemex was intervened; there was an intervention, on the 20th, there was a removal of officials who were consigned to the authorities.
The huachicol made a kingdom in the states of the PAN and the PRI; the top 3: Puebla, Hidalgo and Guanajuato
Oropeza said that on December 21 of this year an operation was carried out inside Pemex, which included the removal of officials and intervention in the pipeline control system, and a reduction in fuel theft was observed. “It is clearly observed that on December 21, 2016, 78 thousand barrels were stolen, in 2017 they were 70 thousand, and this year, after the intervention, they were 43 thousand. On December 22, repeating the same comparison, we observed that in December of this year it was the day that less fuel was stolen on this day “.
In recent days, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador considered that “they were scratching” with Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), “it was an exaggeration” the corruption that now has the company in crisis. During the presentation of the National Plan for the Production of Hydrocarbons, said that corruption is sinking the country. With what they left, he added, and with a straight course, we will rescue our beloved Mexico and the national oil industry. AMLO affirmed this Saturday in Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, that there is no need to point out more about the errors and the failure of the previous government’s oil policy. Now, he added, we must look forward.
