Only a week after tragedy stuck Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo , another community, Otumba , in the state of Mexico , rose against the army to defend what they consider their “ fuel ” and their “right” to illegally obtain it. Perhaps they are motivated by the alleged “higher fuel theft ”, the white collar fuel theft , the theft that takes place inside Pemex . “If they do it, why can't we?”, they argue in their defense, claiming that if the pipelines go through their land, their crops , they are also the owners of the fuel and they demand their rights.
Today, EL UNIVERSAL revealed that during Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto's administrations , only one in every four suspected fuel thieves were detained. This shows how impunity grew exponentially in recent years and which was made the fuel theft crisis unbearable.
In recent days, President López Obrador 's government has proposed these communities to exchange fuel theft for social programs.
Certainly, having alternatives is part of the solution; nevertheless, punishing the crimes is also part of the equation, as these will continue if the threat of force isn't credible.
Morena legislators
, by presidential initiative, are proposing to toughen punishments and for fuel theft to become a serious crime . The increase in the penalties, it's been proved, doesn't have an impact on the decrease of the crime, but we hope that in 6 years, when the crime levels of López Obrador's government are inspected, we will confirm that the number of detainees increased in proportion to those accused, or even better, that fuel theft is over and it can be said that they did the right thing during the war against fuel theft.
What is relevant is that the fight against fuel theft has started, after years of speeches that claimed the crime would be stopped and that there would be operations to prevent it. Despite these promises, the fuel theft levels only increased.
Now that the form of fuel distribution has changed, and even it causes a shortage, is backed by the majority of the population , according to a poll published by EL UNIVERSAL last Monday. This strategy has affected criminal groups but the investigations are still taking place.
Fuel thieves
require several divisions to operate: officials, authorities, civilians, and criminals . Mexico has a unique opportunity to banish fuel theft, but if those responsible aren't punished, it can't be said that the strategy was effective .
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