Early victory or official narrative?
The federal government announced this Wednesday that the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico are now ‘clean’ after the hydrocarbon spill. The Interinstitutional Group (GI) assures that 39 beaches have been attended to along more than 480 kilometers of coast, mainly in Veracruz and Tamaulipas.
But here’s the detail you can’t overlook: while they celebrate the cleanup on land, the investigation into the origin of the disaster continues on the high seas. It’s like applauding because they swept away the water that entered the house, without having fixed the broken pipe.
“The environmental authorities… continue with supervision, verification and integration actions of the corresponding investigations, in order to determine the origin of the incident”
So far they have collected more than 700 tons of pollutant on beaches and another 40 tons on the high seas to prevent it from reaching the coast. Pemex, Semar, Semarnat and other agencies work together under the National Contingency Plan.
The real setting: Cantarell
The real focus is on the Campeche Sound, specifically on the Cantarell complex. There, work continues with underwater technology to contain and mitigate the hydrocarbon from its origin. That is the board where this game is really played.
The authorities insist that they have contained the dispersion and remain vigilant against ‘possible intermittent landfalls’. Translation: this is not over. The tide can continue bringing waste.
My father always said that in politics you have to see what they do, not just what they say. Declaring beaches clean is an attractive headline. Determining responsibilities and preventing this from happening again… that’s what really matters. The theater of the positive announcement has already been set up. Now it’s time to wait for the next act: the legal consequences.
