International roundup

By Agencies
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A judge in Mexico has delivered a fresh blow to the Maya train project, which aims to link archaeological sites with Mexican beach resorts.

The judge ordered that a suspension of construction work on a stretch of the train line be extended until its environmental impact is determined.

The ruling is a victory for a group of cave divers who fear that the works will threaten underground caverns.

The Maya train is one of Mexico’s most ambitious infrastructure projects.

This latest ruling could halt building work by months or even years unless an appeal by the authority behind the project is successful.

The $9.8bn (£7.5bn) Maya train project is aimed at building a 1,500km-long (930-mile) railroad linking the south-eastern Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador argues that it will provide an environmentally friendly mode of transport for locals and tourists alike, as well as boosting development and employment in the underdeveloped region.

But critics say the megaproject has been rushed and environmental concerns have been overridden.

The current legal battle centres on a particular stretch of the railroad, known as Section 5, which links the tourist hotspots of Cancún and Tulum.

The controversy arose after the route was changed to run through an area of jungle which is rich in ancient underground caves.

Environmentalists and speleologists warned that the heavy machinery used to build the railroad would irreparably damage the unique cave system

They took their case to court and a judge granted a temporary suspension in April.

On Monday, the same judge declared the suspension «definite», ordering that no works be carried out on this particular stretch until environmental impact studies have not just been carried out but also approved according to Mexican law.

The judge said that he was acting to «prevent imminent and irreparable damages to the environment».

VATICAN CITY

Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals Sunday, most of them from continents other than Europe, which dominated Catholic hierarchy for most of the church’s history, and further putting his mark on the group of people who might someday elect the next pontiff.

A total of 16 of those who will receive the prestigious red cardinal’s hat from Francis in a consistory ceremony at the Vatican on Aug. 27 are younger than 80, and thus would be eligible to vote for his successor if a conclave, in which pontiffs are secretly elected, were to be held.

Francis read out the names of his choices after delivering traditional Sunday remarks from an open window of the Apostolic Palace to the public in St. Peter’s Square.

Among those tapped by the pontiff to receive the prestigious red hat will be two prelates from India and one each from Ghana, Nigeria, Singapore, East Timor, Paraguay, and Brazil, in keeping with Francis’ determination to have church leaders reflect the global face of the Catholic church.

With church growth largely stagnant or at best sluggish in much of Europe and North America, the Vatican has been attentive to its flock to developing countries, including in Africa, where the number of faithful has been growing in recent decades. 

Only one new cardinal was named from the United States: Robert Walter McElroy, bishop of San Diego, California.

This is the eighth batch of cardinals that Francis has named since becoming pontiff in 2013. 

A sizeable majority of those who are eligible to vote in a conclave were appointed by him, increasing the likelihood that they will choose as his successor someone who shares his papacy’s priorities, including attention to those living on society’s margins and to environmental crises.

A total of 131 cardinals would be young enough to elect a pope once the new batch are included, while the number of cardinals too old to vote will rise to 96.

Pontiffs traditionally have chosen their closest advisors and collaborators at the Vatican from among the ranks of cardinals, who have been dubbed the “princes of the church.”

COLOMBIA 

Leftist Sen. Gustavo Petro celebrated his first-round lead in Colombia’s presidential election in the way most politicians would: in a conference room packed with hundreds of supporters as confetti rained down upon him.

The man he’ll meet in a June 19 runoff had a different approach.

Rodolfo Hernandez sat at his home kitchen table and spoke to his followers for five minutes on Facebook Live.

“Today the country that does not want to continue with the same politicians, that does not want the same people who have brought us to our current situation, has won,” he declared.

The 77-year-old populist rode a wave of disgust at the country’s condition to what until just weeks ago would have been a shocking place in the runoff, surging late in the campaign past more conventional candidates.

He ran an austere campaign, unaffiliated with any major party, that was waged mostly on social media with a message that centered on reducing corruption and cutting wasteful government spending,

He is now positioned to mount a serious challenge to Petro, a former rebel who himself has long been seen as a political insurgent and who would be Colombia’s first leftist leader if elected. 

Petro now, to some eyes at least seems like the more conventional candidate, even if he still frightens much of the country’s conservative establishment..

Hernandez got 28% of the vote in the six-candidate field on Sunday while Petro, as polls had projected, got 40%.

Hernandez is a self-made millionaire who got rich in real estate after growing up on a small farm. 

He says he has paid for his campaign with his own savings rather than depending on donations.

Some in Colombia compare him to former U.S. President Donald Trump and describe him as a right-wing populist. But others say the analogy is deceptive.

“This is not a hard right-wing candidate” said Will Freeman, a Princeton University scholar who specializes in Latin American politics and met with Hernandez in February for a lengthy interview. 

“One of the big things he talks about is poverty, inequality and hunger. When I spoke with him he said several times that he was dismayed by the idea that people are born into poverty in Colombia and don’t have opportunities to get out of that track.”