“With this formula, NAIM could be revived”: the opposition assured that Texcoco's armor is weak

The federal government shielded by a presidential decree the Texcoco area where the project to build Mexico's New International Airport (NAIM) existed, which was canceled at the beginning of the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador following a citizen consultation in which just over one million people participated in citizens.

The NAIM was the promise of former President Enrique Peña Nieto that Mexico would have the most modern and important air terminal in the Latin American region, however, the work was halted at the beginning of the new six-year period despite the progress of approximately 30% in construction.

With the creation of the Texcoco Ecological Park, the government of López Obrador considers that infrastructure works in this area will be prevented in the future, however, the General Law on Ecological Balance and Protection of Ambiente points out that this area can be modified in its extension, and where appropriate, the permitted land uses, considering that the federal government owns almost 10,000 hectares of the little more than 14,000 that this new park has.

Because the decree to shield the Texcoco area was issued only one day after the inauguration of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), Senator Lilly Tellez said that in the next six-year period, should the opposition win the presidency of the Republic, the decree of López Obrador and the old man will be reversed NAIM project will be rescued.

The senator and former Morena militant stressed that “NAIM will be a reality as soon as we get these leperos out of power. The first flight will be to Canada, as a symbol of the citizens' aspiration for a safe country, with the rule of law, education, health, prosperity and freedom.”

In the same vein, federal deputy Gabriel Quadri assured that Andrés Manuel López Obrador's decree is “technically and legally irrelevant. We are going to defend ourselves against it or it will be abrogated in 2024 to resume NAIM.” He also argued that to rescue the previous airport project, a new presidential decree would suffice.

On the designation of Texcoco as a Protected Natural Area, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said it is a gift to Mexicans and a commitment of his campaign in 2018. In addition, the federal government considered that this measure completely buried the possibility of reviving the project for an airport in Texcoco.

Judicial studies indicate that executive decrees are administrative acts, such as an expropriation, the affectation or disincorporation of an asset from the national heritage and the creation of a parastatal entity. During the administration of López Obrador, a presidential decree was already challenged that sought to shield the public works of his government under the argument of “national security”, which was partially reversed by the judiciary because it considered that it violated the right to information.

According to the General Law on Ecological Balance and Protection of the Environment, article 62 states that “once a protected natural area has been established, only its extension and, where appropriate, land uses may be modified permitted or any of its provisions, by the authority which established it”. That is, in order to resume the NAIM project, one should proceed through the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), which should again submit an environmental impact study in the area to justify it.

The same law indicates that before declaring a Protected Natural Area by federal authorities, the study justifying this declaration must be made public. The decree published by the Official Gazette of the Federation mentions that a justifying study was carried out by the National Commission on Protected Natural Areas, this document was not widely disseminated at the time of the announcement of the decree.

María Luisa Albores González, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), explained on March 22 during López Obrador's morning conference the decree declaring Lake Texcoco as a Protected Natural Area (ANP). This area comprises 14,000 hectares of which 10,660 are in the federal zone, 2,971 are of ejido tenure and 379 of other types as private property. The Mexican municipalities that it covers are Atenco, Texcoco, Chimalhuacán, Nezahualcoyotl and Ecatepec.

The declaration published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, prohibits the alteration or destruction of wildlife ecosystems, the development of real estate developments or new population centers, new works of exploration and mining, as well as the modification of the natural environment of historical archaeological remains. For this reason, it will not be possible to build on the land that was destined during the government of Enrique Peña Nieto to the new Mexican airport.

In July 2019, the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT) acknowledged that the construction area of Mexico's New International Airport (NAIM) was flooded. In the waterlogged area, only the support piles for the roof of the structure protruded. In December 2021, López Obrador announced that the Texcoco area would become an ecological park.

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