San Luis de la Paz and visit of the Secretario of SEMARNAT

Last weekend I headed to San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato for a little get together with some vols that are about done with their service. In a very out of context weekend for me, I did not take a single picture. Probably for the best though. Anyway on Wednesday, the Secretario (head) of Semarnat was here in Puebla to sign the coordination agreement between the federal and state government. It’s a big show at the signing, that took place in an ecological park, that includes the governor, the municipal president (pretty much the mayor of Puebla), the head of SEMARNAT, and then the state heads of SEMARNAT, CONAFOR, PROFEPA, and CONAGUA. The Secretario also took advantage of his brief visit to Puebla to check in on the progress of our Valsequillo project, which is quickly moving into its first phases of the diagnostic and participatory workshops. The press session after the signing was pretty much only questions about the project since there have been more than a few problems in the area of study lately.

For those that read Spanish, here is a fairly inaccurate newspaper article about our project, but the comments of the Secretario were accurately recorded.

http://www.lajornadadeoriente.com.mx/2009/05/21/puebla/ecl103.php

The Secretario after the signing, being mobbed by the press, this is where being tall really comes in handy in Mexico (both for him and for me)

Puebla's soccer team played against the Puma's on Wednesday night, so coming back from the signing, mascots and flags were flying everywhere in anticipation of the game. (unfortunately they lost 1-2).