In his everyday morning press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador spoke of the first major crisis of his administration: the shortage of gasoline in several Mexican states.
AMLO reported that an “accidental leak” was registered in the Tuxpan-Azcapotzalco pipeline, which passes through Hidalgo, a situation that has further aggravated the problem of gasoline shortage. Given this situation, Obrador called on Mexicans to be patient and not to panic, as the process is normalizing.
About the repairs of the pipeline, the president said that the ducts are being fixed and it is expected that in the next couple of days the situation of gasoline supply will be back to normal. However, on Tuesday Jan. 8, the general director of the National Airborne Chamber (Canaero) Rodrigo Pérez Alonso, informed that the problem of fuel shortage already affects the Air Carriers in at least three airports in the country; however, the Lopez Obrador government has denied this fact.
The Intercontinental Airport of Querétaro suffers from the shortage of fuel. Here NOTAM data from Jan. 9th, 2019, showing there is no turbosine available
Through his Twitter account, the executive said he has been working hand in hand with Pemex and Airports and Auxiliary Services (Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares: ASA), the latter in charge of distributing turbosina, aircraft fuel of vital importance.
Addressing the rumors about not having gasoline in the country, AMLO insisted that there is enough fuel in Mexico but the pipelines can not be used because there are “networks of gasoline thieves”(huachicoleros) created to extract and steal the gasoline. However, there has not been a shortage of fuel in Mexico for decades, situation quite common in socialist countries such as Cuba and Venezuela.
Gasoline shortage in Mexico
San Miguel Times
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