Now that the agents of the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Coahuila Attorney General’s Office have taken a proactive approach to “preventing” the sale of stolen vehicles, deploying operations at car lots in Saltillo, some have pointed out that the agency, headed by Federico Fernández Montañez, could do much more—and with better results—in this area. For example? Promoting the establishment of mechanisms that mandate verification of every purchase and sale transaction at a used car dealership.
In other words, promoting rules that guarantee what’s important: that no customer is scammed when purchasing a vehicle in good faith. Because, as things stand, experts say, what’s happening is that the flow of unregistered vehicles isn’t being stopped, and what is being fueled is the existence of pockets of corruption, from which, incidentally, police officers who aren’t committed to upholding the law but are instead seeking personal gain also benefit.
And speaking of avoiding undesirable financial consequences, we’re told that FIFA, under Gianni Infantino, is very serious about its crackdown on those who use any image for which the organization holds the rights without permission. In Coahuila, it’s said, that lesson was learned the hard way. If it weren’t for the intervention of high-level officials, a Coahuila public institution would have been forced to pay a hefty fine for including graphic elements owned by the multinational football organization on a banner—one of those used to “dress up” official public events.
To a large extent, we’re told, this is the reason why everyone is now being strongly warned to refrain from using any World Cup imagery in any publication or promotional article. Because, naturally, everyone is looking to profit from the event, but FIFA has decided to take a firm stance: to profit from the World Cup, you first have to invest in it. Otherwise… it can be very costly.
Astudent observers of the urban landscape comment that the Director of Urban Development for Saltillo, Haydeé Nayeli Castro Gutiérrez, should pay attention to a phenomenon occurring in several residential developments in the city: while developers are required to bury electrical and telephone wiring—at the very least—underground, cable television and internet service providers are allowed—or tolerated—to extend their existing overhead cable networks throughout the city. Why is this type of behavior tolerated?
Or could it be that cable and/or internet companies are expanding their networks without municipal permission? Regardless of the cause of the irregularity, the expectation is that the situation will be resolved as soon as possible and that the same rules will be applied to all service providers. It would be disproportionate to require public companies to comply with urban development regulations while private companies are not.
The director of Coecyt, Mario Valdés, highlighted a troubling reality: for years there have been no federal funds for scientific development in Coahuila. And although there is talk of innovation at the federal level, in reality, the support doesn’t materialize, as federal funds haven’t been received since 2017. But the state isn’t faring much better. Today, a large part of the Council’s operating budget comes from fines levied on political parties, which the IEC is obligated to transfer. In other words, science isn’t funded through planning… but through sanctions.
And therein lies the crux of the problem. We’re told that, although Congress authorizes the state budget for Coecyt, the Finance Ministry doesn’t transfer it consistently. The argument: that the funds received from electoral fines are also considered state resources. But this leaves the Council without certainty. They can’t plan, they can’t project… they depend on some political party making mistakes to receive funding. Thus, science in Coahuila not only lacks support… it also depends on the mistakes of others to survive.
Source: vanguardia
