Humanitarian and political crisis in Jojutla, Morelos

Exclusive interview with Francisco Sandoval, ANIMAL POLITICO Vice Director, for The Yucatan Times.

Time is running, construction license administration has been exposed in Mexico City, Mexicans have set the pace and shown the world they can help each other, but they seem to assume this attitude only in times of big need (as today)

However, the situation in the Mexican state of Morelos has exposed not only State Governor Graco Ramirez, but many other Mexican politicians who are trying to take advantage of others’ disgrace to “make their day”.

It seems like these unscrupulous people place their political interests before everything else, including the rescue of survivors, cleaning up debris or rebuilding destroyed homes, but once again in Mexico,  the civil society has overcome the government.

205 people have died in Mexico City, 74 in Morelos, 45 in Puebla, 13 in the State of Mexico, six in Guerrero and one in Oaxaca, for a total of 344, and with a civil society that has overpassed authorities regarding rescue labors and support to those affected by the earthquake, Mexico has another rude awakening to reality after being used to live with the limitations its own government imposes the population.

“We went to the town of Jojutla last week and saw more than two thousands severely damaged houses and at least three hundred of them totally collapsed, several of them were very old constructions, in many cases the house literally fell down on its residents”, said Francisco Sandoval, Vice director of ANIMAL POLITICO one of Mexico’s most important mass media outlets.

“In response to this situation, thousands of Morelos residents, plus a lot of civilians from Michoacán, Estado de México and other states arrived to Jojutla with bottled water, canned food, supplies, clothing and other items, but in most cases, the aid could not be delivered directly to the civil society”, Sandoval continued.

“We were in Jojutla on September 20th (one day after the earthquake), and saw hundreds of people arriving there to help, but help never arrived to other near-by towns such as Ticumán, Zacatepec, Huatecalco or Tlaquiltenango which resulted significantly affected as well, and nobody even mentions them on TV, radio or newspapers”, he added.

“Morelos State University Dean, Jesús Alejandro Vera Jiménez, and Bishop Ramón Castro have been in confrontation with Governor Graco for years, and there are accusations against him of concentrating, hiding and speculating with the aid that different sectors of society are sending to this state”, said Sandoval.

“Due to this situation”, he explained, “people is trying to deliver help directly to the affected population and they are arriving in big caravans or convoys in an extraordinary demonstration where the civil society has done much more than the local government, which has used this tragedy as an opportunity to profit politically from the misfortune of people, showing that they do not care for those who elected them”.

“The 7.1 earthquake that stroke Central Mexico exposes corruption by Morelos Governor Graco Ramirez who collects civilians’ and other states’ help to deliver it as if it was provided by his own administration, in a totally unethical try to gain “political force”, which is directly affecting communities such as Jojutla, that is in great need and has not been able to receive the necessary help and support”, stated the Vice director of ANIMAL POLITICO.

“While in Mexico City,  irregular and almost criminal situations have been exposed too, such as the case of a downtown building located on the corner of Bolivar and Chimalpopoca, where dozens of seamstresses died since there were no emergency exits”, Francisco Sandoval concluded.

Interview by ALEJANDRO AZCARATE  for the The Yucatan Times