Farewell to Fonatur

David Ordaz.

True to his style, Andres Manuel López Obrador seeks to do away with everything that “smells” of neoliberalism, but does not use it to the full to achieve his goals.

In the 1970s, the Bank of Mexico created an organization called the Fund for the Promotion of Tourism Infrastructure (INFRATUR), whose goal was to create cities, and later it became known as the National Tourism Development Fund. ).

50 years ago, FONATUR launched one of the most ambitious tourism development projects in Mexico. Cancun, Ixtapa, Los Cabos, Loreto, Huatulco are names that meant little in national geography five decades ago. These five areas are currently attract more than half of foreign tourists that our country receives and generates two-thirds of the tourist currency. These places, known as Integrated Planning Centers (CIP), were created by FONATUR.

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Fifty years later, with Andrés Manuel López Obrador coming into office, the foundation was seen as the ideal organization to develop the Mayan train, not because it was a highly touristic endeavor, but to sell it as a large, integral project.

The Mayan train could not carry the Ministry of Tourism or Communications and Transportation, because it had to be proved that it was the work of “the people” and for them. That is why it was handed over to FONATUR, despite the fact that it was not a wanted organization, because it was created during the neo-liberal era.

“In transformation, it is not the position that matters, but the order,” López Obrador said hundreds of times, and in accordance with this idea, FONATUR became a super-secretariat with disproportionately large budgetary resources.

Between bad decisions, miscalculations and surrounding himself with characters who, more than efficiency, knew how to sell, Rogelio Jiménez Pons left the management of the organization and came Javier May, the unconditional operator of the president, who paved the way for achieving what would become the next reality: the disappearance of FONATUR and the formal and complete handover of the Maya train to the army and navy.

A few days ago, a presidential agreement was signed, which determined that about 15,000 hectares of land owned by the National Tourism Development Fund will now be considered a nature reserve, including those that correspond to the Integrated Planning Centers.

According to López Obrador, there has been a lot of corruption in the background for many years and therefore it needs to be “nationalised, to give back to the people what belongs to the people, what belongs to the nation, that’s what we are going to bear. out.”

Through this decision, Mara Lezama of Quintana Roo, Evelyn Salgado of Guerrero, Rubén Rocha of Sinaloa, Salomon Jara of Oaxaca and Victor Manuel Castro of Baja California Sur, all Governors of Morena, will have access to a million dollar budget and operations from these tourist centers .

For this year, FONATUR has an approved budget of 144 million 662,000 pesos for Mayan Train and 130 million 808,000 pesos for Fonatur Infraestructura.

Now the governments of these states will be able to manage the budget allocated for the operation and administration of the Fontatur, control the development of infrastructure, manage the trust and build works almost overnight.

Declaring it a nature reserve is politically and socially beneficial, however, it is estimated that around 50 national and foreign investors could sue the government as they develop real estate, tourism and infrastructure. These claims are expected to range from 1,000 to 4,000 million pesos in damages. Just like what happened at the Texcoco airport. You will have to compensate.

This figure does not include the pending 2,205 million pesos that FONATUR faces in 402 infringement lawsuits, according to the Federation’s Supreme Audit Office (ASF).

With the Santa Lucia airport vacant and the Dos Bocas refinery not refining, the president’s attention is now on the Maya train, his flagship job for the southeast, where 1,500 million pesos was spent to acquire a right-of-way that no longer has them. will be used because the workflow has changed countless times.

In addition, he must face dozens of defenses with temporary and permanent solutions due to environmental damage, mainly in sections 5, 6 and 7, where there is no right-of-way, except for light line poles.

According to Fonatur spokesman Fernando Vazquez, progress on Section 5 will not be halted by the recent final suspension issued by the Yucatán First District Court.

In addition, legal representatives continue to work, negotiating land, hotels and premises where work can take place, offering lower payments, no estimates and half-hearted procedures.

The truth is that FONATUR is controlled by the Tabasco Group, where May, Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez and many other operators of the president are based. Thus, without further ado, FONATUR is doomed to extinction.