política

On September 17, 1988, Hurricane Gilbert devastated Monterrey, Mexico. Flooding washed away streets and the people on them. In response, Proteccion Civil of the state of Nuevo Leon reorganized and updated its rescue services. One of the direct effects was a better rescue system for the canyons, especially Matacanes. Up until a few years ago, Proteccion Civil was in place every weekend in Potrero Redondo to check to make sure that each guide taking clients was certified by Proteccion Civil, and to check to see how many clients were in the canyon each day. They would then wait at Las Adjuntas to check off a list as each group exited. If somebody didn't exit, then rescue services were initiated. Then entered the politics...

Proteccion Civil of the municipality of Santiago has since insisted on its right to perform the rescues in Matacanes, and the State has ceded its control. No longer are the Proteccion Civil in Potrero Redondo or in Las Adjuntas. A month ago, after much rain caused high water conditions, Proteccion Civil told a group of guides that there was no longer a group in the canyon, leaving the guides to go perform the rescue of a group that was stranded without the proper swiftwater techniques to complete the canyon. I have been at the hotel a number of occasions recently on call to do a rescue if Proteccion Civil isn't going to do its job.

I almost want to discuss my current feelings of the roles of the individuals, the guiding companies and of rescue services in this situation, but they're too contradictory. So many of the 'guiding' companies can run the canyon under normal conditions, but have no idea what to do in high-water conditions. I don't want to be morbid, but I feel that something bad will happen here before things change... And I feel that if/when they change, it won't necessarily be a good thing.