Political Vultures
PAST MERIDIAN / Gricelda Guerra Romero
Thousands of families are living through the heat of Cain this week, burdened by the high temperatures that have been felt. Due to the high demand for electricity, supply has been insufficient, causing blackouts in various municipalities of Tamaulipas. Municipal governments have had to seek dialogue with officials from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to find a solution to this problem, which mainly affects nighttime hours when families try to rest but find it nearly impossible to sleep due to the suffocating heat and lack of electricity.
One of these municipalities is Matamoros, where specifically in the Las Brisas and Palmares areas, there have been constant failures during the night, affecting other parts of this border municipality as well.
In response to citizen complaints, Mayor Alberto Granados quickly requested a meeting with CFE Superintendent Pedro Contreras, also attended by Roberto Manuel Rendón Mares, Undersecretary of Electricity of the Secretariat of Energy Development of Tamaulipas, to review the issues reported by Matamoros families and seek a solution to prevent further harm to the public.
The meeting, held at the municipal palace, followed up on the efforts being made to find a prompt solution.
After the meeting, the mayor, accompanied by Undersecretary Roberto Manuel Rendón Mares, met with leaders and representatives of the neighborhoods Los Palmares, Palmares de las Brisas, Paseo de las Brisas, Jardines de San Felipe, Valle de los Reyes, Los Olivos, and San Ángel Poniente, who had the opportunity to express firsthand what they are suffering with these power failures and blackouts.
Mayor Alberto Granados clarified that the information circulating on social media claiming that the blackouts are due to the installation of the Bicentennial Fair is a lie, as one of the conditions for the fair's installation was that it have its own power supply to avoid affecting nearby residents.
Before the end of this week, the results of the talks between municipal authorities and CFE executives began to show, as two trucks carrying electrical materials arrived in Matamoros, along with personnel from Nuevo León, to immediately begin installing new equipment that will benefit families in Palo Verde, Vista del Sol, Hacienda Bugambilias, Jesús Vega, Misiones 1 and 2, Cuatro Caminos, Puerta Dorada, Nogales, Paraíso, Las Américas, Hacienda Misiones, Pedro Moreno, Los Fresnos, Libre Comercio, Palmares, Palmares de las Brisas, Paseo de las Brisas, Jardines de San Felipe, Valle de los Reyes, Los Olivos, San Ángel Poniente, among others.
Unfortunately, there were those who tried to use this problem to their advantage, such as the flashy Roberto Lee, who quickly sought to champion the cause to gain public sympathy, showing his concern—or rather his political interest.
Some voices had accused him of orchestrating protests over this issue, not necessarily against the CFE. To convince the people of Matamoros of his good intentions, he staged a little theater by going to the "Sultana del Norte" (Monterrey) with a folder in hand to deliver his demand to the regional offices of this federal agency to intervene in Matamoros. Many wonder in what capacity he presented himself, or rather, he tried to "get ahead" of the municipal authorities' actions, which, following protocol, first sought dialogue with the local manager before escalating to higher authorities, as should be done.
Lee's actions were more about grandstanding than anything else, because even if his request were addressed, the process would not yield a quick response due to administrative procedures. Thus, this action only served to promote a video on his social media and seek public sympathy.
By the way, the municipal authorities have already responded to the blackout allegations, and although no names were mentioned, it wasn't necessary—the indirect message was very direct, landing squarely on those who like the color orange, whom they called "political vultures" who use their own little pages created to cheer themselves on and stir up trouble, using bots against those governing Matamoros.
