The Senate pokes its nose into the curious world of STE purchases
It seems that the Senate Anti-Corruption and Transparency Commission got bored of chasing ghosts and has decided to focus on something much more tangible and, why not say it, entertaining: the alleged irregularities in the contracts of the Electric Transport System (STE). Yes, that organization in charge of ensuring that trolleybuses and the Light Rail do not become decorative junk for Mexico City. Their sacred mission: to investigate the suspicious and convenient habit of awarding contracts by hand, a practice that, according to senators, smells more of opacity and corruption than of garden flowers.
The president of said commission, Francisco Daniel Barreda Pavón, dropped a pearl of those that makes more than one official hesitate: “It has to be investigated and it will be investigated, direct awards cannot be possible, they must be published on the portal”. Wow, wow. Someone reminded him that there is something called transparency. And he finished with the obviousness of the century, but necessary in this circus: “That opacity generates corruption.” Take note, world, we have a genius among us.
The ghost company and science fiction prices
The heart of the matter is a complaint filed by some businessmen who, apparently, did not receive their invitation to the exclusive club of STE contracts. The organization, commanded by Martín López Delgado, is accused of having a special affection for the companyTrolley and Bus Electric México, S.A. de C.V.. So much love, that in 2024 he was directly awarded the contract STE-DEAF-GRMA-041-A-2024 for the modest amount of 100 million pesos. The reason? Buy spare parts for trolleybuses. Because, of course, when you think about trolleybus spare parts, who doesn’t automatically think about dropping a hundred million without asking?
The most hilarious (or tragic, depending on your sense of humor) is that the process left out a trivial detail: a extensive market study to compare prices. Why waste time, right? The result was a purchase with extra costs that, according to the complainants, reached up to four times the retail price. Imagine: paying four times more for a piece that any mortal can get on the market. That’s not corruption, friends, it’s an advanced investment strategy… or so they would have us believe.
The company’s justification was a gem of corporate creativity: they claimed to have exclusivity granted by Yutong de México, the manufacturer of the trolleybuses. A master move, until Mexico’s own Yutong came out to deny such a lie. Come on, they didn’t even bother to come up with a credible excuse. The transparency of the procedure was shattered, like a trolleybus without its overpriced spare parts.
Senators to the rescue: will they arrive in time?
Meanwhile, in the Senate, another member of the commission, Pablo Angulo Briseño, stood on the podium for great phrases. He assured that every alleged case of corruption must be investigated and, in a burst of revelation, he stressed that public resources must be used well. Take it now! In what parallel world do we need a senator to remind us of that? The PRI senator, with a face of commendable seriousness, declared that acts of corruption cannot be normalized. Because, of course, until now we thought it was a totally normal and accepted practice.
Angulo Briseño also criticized the increasingly recurrent practice of direct awards in this “regime.” He said that this lends itself to opacity and corruption, since “many times they are handed over to those who are convenient for certain officials.” Wow, how insightful. It’s almost as if the system is designed to benefit a select few while the taxpayer pays for the party with prices inflated to infinity and beyond.
In short, we are faced with a mess worthy of a bureaucratic soap opera: a favorite company, non-existent exclusivity, prices that defy all economic logic and a group of senators trying to put order in the coop. The million dollar question is: will this investigation go anywhere or will it be lost in the black hole of forgotten files? Only time, and perhaps the next direct award, will tell. Meanwhile, we citizens can enjoy the spectacle, wondering if our taxes are financing a transportation system or an ingenious system of illicit enrichment.
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