Ciudad del Carmen, the engine that sustains the capital city of Campeche, and which for over forty years was the largest settlement for the workforce of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), providing the country with resources through the export of crude oil extracted from the Bay of Campeche, is no more.
The island is suffering greatly from the closure of businesses of all kinds. Just this past week, the first restaurant chain, the one with the clover logo, closed its doors for good, as did a franchise hotel, while another, in late 2025, removed its identifying mark due to the evident lack of guests.
Other businesses, with local owners, are offering unprecedented discounts and promotions, under the distant gaze of the Campeche state government authorities, who are not involved in the catastrophe caused by Pemex’s non-payment since the middle of the previous presidential term and the rampant corruption within the company.
February 2026, which begins in a couple of days, will bring even more unemployment to the once-thriving city that boasted five daily flights from different airlines and round-trip service to Houston for years. All of that and more has been lost due to the indifference and neglect of those who only milk the state coffers dry, without any projects or programs for economic reactivation.
The promise was not kept, remaining just that, a promise, because of Layda Sansores’ declaration that there was no room for PEMEX to relocate to Ciudad del Carmen. There are no projects of mutual benefit, nor will there be any more. Dozens, even hundreds, of empty houses and buildings, no longer displaying “for rent” signs, because they are stuck in a dead end.
Union sections 42 and 47 have never supported the Carmen workers, only those with connections and those involved in selling union membership cards. Staff cuts began under Ricardo Aldana, who is obviously focused on saving his own skin, as are the leaders who have never allowed transparency in the collection of union dues. Now they’re even playing the Campeche lottery to sweeten the governor’s party.
Helicopters are no longer seen flying to the offshore platforms. Infrastructure and services have been moved to Dos Bocas, including a sub-directorate; that’s where the downfall began. It’s unstoppable because, in addition, the business owners to whom PEMEX owes millions of pesos are afraid to speak out publicly for fear of reprisals.
Sansores’s nephew, who is not at all inconvenient, is holding meetings on the island to promote his candidacy for governor. He openly states this, and some people are being deceived into believing he’s looking after the payments from the state-owned company. He’s lying to them.
The economic crisis has names and surnames, the problem was left unattended, the band-aids did not stop the cancer, because the fight continues between the Campeche residents of the capital and the Carmen residents of the Island, because the succession in 2027 is stronger than ever, amidst trends, omens and vanities.
Source: es-us.noticias.yahoo
