...and this is the situation. A few states, Gto, Hidalgo, Michoachan, and a maybe another or two I don't know about, have been having a gas shortage, because thieves have been tapping into the gasoline pipelines in the country and stealing the gasoline. They estimate the losses last year at approximately $11,000,000,000 USD. They have been stealing the gasoline out of the pipelines and then selling it to the locals, the truckers, and even the gas stations at a fraction of the cost.

Consequently, the new President Obrador, has shut off the pipelines in Guanajuato state and a couple other states, and the result is a severe gas shortage. I parked in line for about one hour Wednesday to get gasoline at a Mobil station, an independent operation in Mexico. Pemex, the national gas company has been rampant in corruption for years, and Obrador is cracking down on it.

The result is those stations that have been buying illegal gas off the black market are closed....no incoming gasoline to sell. In the neighboring state, Queretaro, you can buy all the gas you want. The price of gas here is about $3-3.50 a gallon from Pemex. The independent stations are about the same.

PAN and PRI are bad mouthing Obrador as though he is creating the problem, when in fact, he is clamping down on it. (PAN is the most corrupt political party, and the PRI isn't far behind. They have controlled politics in Mexico for decades.) Several PEMEX employees have been indicted, and the black market thieves are trying other neighboring states now, where the gas is still running in the pipelines. It's a dangerous endeavor, and in this case, lethal. They have to weld a coupling on to the exposed pipeline, drill a hole and attach a hose to regulate the outflow. While they are trying to attach the hose, gas is spewing all over everywhere and everyone. I presume this is how the explosion and deaths occurred.

It's an ugly scene in Mexico right now regarding the PEMEX corruption situation, but it has to be dealt with, and poverty and greed are making it an uphill battle.

Best wishes to Obrador. He is trying to stamp out corruption and waste in a non lethal manner, as opposed to his predecessors. He needs all the support and cooperation he can get. Many of the people are behind him, like many of us were behind Bernie and Obama, but the corruption is a long established and serious problem in Mexico. He has proposed raising wages of the people along the border to decrease the flow of Latinos into the USA.

Sad day in Hidalgo, but this has been happening on a smaller scale for a long time now. An underground distribution network for gasoline delivery has been compromised by corrupt employees at the PEMEX distribution centers. Hopefully things will stabilize and they can monitor the theft that has been going on for years. Time will tell.

Horrific.

I found video of the pipeline before the explosion and I couldn't believe it. The leak was spraying into the air like a geyser and people were running over with buckets by the dozens. It was madness!