AMLO's 'Maya Train' wins in landslide in Mexico

Yahoo – AFP, December 16, 2019

A citizen marks his ballot during a referendum on building a "Maya Train", in Felipe
Carrillo Puerto, Champoton, Campeche state, Mexico, on December 15, 2019
(AFP Photo/Lexie Harrison-Cripps)

Mexico City (AFP) - Indigenous communities in southern Mexico voted overwhelmingly to approve President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's pet project to build a regional railroad aimed at boosting tourism and economic development, the government said Monday.

The $6.2-billion "Maya Train" is meant to link Caribbean resorts such as Cancun and Playa del Carmen with ancient Mayan archaeological sites such as Palenque and Chichen Itza, passing through the impoverished interior of southeastern Mexico along the way.

Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment leftist widely known as "AMLO", says the passenger and freight railroad will kick-start economic development in the region.

But it has faced resistance from activists and some indigenous communities over the lack of clarity on the environmental impact.

However, the region's communities are overwhelmingly in favor, according to official results from a referendum on the issue -- which was itself the subject of criticism.

Hundreds of indigenous villages held communal councils on the project over the weekend, while 84 municipalities in the train's path voted in a more classic ballot-box referendum.

Citizens attend a consultation meeting during a referendum on building a 

"Maya Train", in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Champoton, Campeche state, Mexico, 

on December 15, 2019 (AFP Photo/Lexie Harrison-Cripps)

"There is a generalized consensus, unanimous, in support of building and implementing the Maya Train program," said Adelfo Regino, head of Mexico's National Indigenous Peoples' Institute.

"We have 93,142 Mexicans who voted 'Yes', equivalent to 92.3 percent of the vote," said the deputy minister for development, Diana Alvarez.

The government acknowledged many indigenous communities also demanded attention for more pressing issues, such as schools, health centers, roads and protection of their environment and archaeological sites.

Lopez Obrador said the first tender for the project would be launched in early January.

The president's opponents have accused him of using such referenda -- or "people's consultations," as he calls them -- to rubber-stamp his stance on controversial issues with no oversight by electoral authorities.

Other decisions he has made by referendum include building a new oil refinery in his native Tabasco state and canceling a $13-billion airport for Mexico City that was already one-third complete and replacing it with a rival project.

Electric motorcycles ride to rescue in fuel-short Cuba

Yahoo – AFP, Carlos BATISTA, November 8, 2019

Electric motorcycle riders have come to the rescue of Cuban passengers
delayed by fuel shortages (AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Havana (AFP) - It is rush hour in Havana and the queue at the bus stop is longer than ever. Then a fleet of electric motorcycles appears, beeping their horns.

Surprised and relieved, passengers jump on the backs of the 50 or so electric mopeds.

It is a new solution for Cubans struggling with fuel shortages driven by US sanctions that have curbed oil imports.

Cuba has long been known for the classic American cars that people here lovingly maintain decades after they stopped being built.

But urban transport on the communist island is evolving.

The bikes' horns beep and some of the riders play reggaeton music -- but, being electric, their motors make hardly any noise.

A Chinese-made electric motorcycle costs between $1,800 and $2,300 in Cuba. A basic petrol-powered bike on the island can cost up to six times that.

Authorities estimate there are 210,000 electric motorcyles in use in Cuba 

(AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Volunteer riders

The electric bikes -- with a maximum speed of about 50 kilometers (30 miles) per hour -- were first licensed for import in 2013.

They have multiplied in the streets since then -- and have come into their own with the recent fuel shortages.

"I really like this initiative, it helps a lot with the economy," says passenger Yanet Figueroa, 42, sitting on the back of one of the bikes.

"It really helps people who have great need of it."

Cuba plunged into a fuel crisis in September after Washington imposed restrictions on fuel shipments from Cuba's top ally Venezuela.

Cuba had to make do in September with just 30 percent of its usual fuel supply and the level has still not recovered -- it is forecast to reach no more than 80 percent this month.

With the public transport network badly hit, President Miguel Diaz-Canel has called on drivers to pick up passengers voluntarily.

The owners of electric bikes known as "motorinas" answered the call.

"We have volunteered to do this as a service to society," says one of the drivers, Javier Capote, 33.

"It is going very well. We are very happy about it."

The president himself during a televised address mentioned "those famous... what do you call them, the bikes? The 'motorinas', that have come out to help."

Mechanics have work to do servicing Cuba's fleet of electric motorcycles

(AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Electric bike era

Cuban authorities estimate there are 210,000 electric motorcycles currently in use on the island.

That figure is expected to rise as the government in late October began to sell them with the price capped at $1,700.

Those who make a living servicing the bikes are pleased by that move as it will bring down costs.

"It seems like a very good idea to us mechanics," says one, Enrique Alfonso, 47, in his workshop.

He recalls the economic crisis of the 1990s that followed the end of cheap imports from the Soviet Union.

"That was the era of (affordable) Chinese bicycles. Now we are in the era of electric motorcycles," he says.

"With everything that is going on the country, they have become obtainable for a lot of people."

Members of the Electric Motorcycles of Cuba club ride passengers home

(AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Accidents

The electric bikes had a mixed reception at first. Silent and often inexpertly ridden, they are often involved in accidents in a country that already suffers from thousands of crashes a year.

Officials say that of the 7,000 road accidents recorded so far this year, a third have involved electric motorcycles.

Authorities have responded by insisting riders have a license and register their vehicles.

The flourishing of electric bikes follows several years of gradual opening-up of Cuba's state-run economy. It has also coincided with a digital mini-revolution.

Thanks to the availability of 3G-standard internet connections since last year, riders can network more easily.

The 3G connections helped spawn the Electric Motorbikes of Cuba online group, a club with more than 80 members.

It started out as a club for enthusiasts seeking to have "healthy fun and share the passion we all have for electric motorcycles and road safety," says its president Osdany Fleites, a 37-year-old taxi driver.

"The motorcycles do not pollute the environment, they do not make a noise," he says.

Now the club has evolved to have an environmental and "social purpose."

Along with another club, Eracing, its members take part in rescuing bus passengers stuck due to the fuel shortages.

They have also taken part in environmental clean-up jobs, helping eradicate an infestation of troublesome giant snails in Havana, donated blood and visited children in a cancer ward.

VIDEO: 🇨🇺 Electric motorcycles are providing a new solution for #Cubans struggling with fuel shortages driven by US sanctions that have curbed oil imports https://t.co/VhwAuWCCIS pic.twitter.com/9fAmyc0W57

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 8 november 2019

Beijing urges Mexico to ensure Chinese firms' rights, interests

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-02-03

Hong Lei gives a press conference in Beijing, Jan. 4, 2012. (Photo/CNS)

China on Monday urged Mexico to ensure legal rights and interests of Chinese enterprises after the Mexican government suspended a high-speed railway project, in which a Chinese-led consortium was a bidder.

"We noticed the Mexican government's decision. China hopes the Mexican government can properly deal with subsequent problems, and ensure the Chinese enterprises' legal rights and interests with concrete measures," said foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

A spokesperson from the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said early Monday that China regretted Mexico's decision.

The spokesperson said the Chinese enterprises had invested huge manpower and money in the project bid, and China hoped the Mexican government can properly deal with the consequences of the suspension.

The new line, which was expected to cost US$3.75 billion to build, would have connected Mexico City with the central state of Queretaro. The bid for the project was won by a group including the China Railway Construction Corporation in November, but it was soon canceled by the Mexican government for domestic reasons. Another bidding for the high-speed railway project was reopened last month.

Mexico's finance minister on Friday announced the project's "indefinite" suspension, as well as canceling a proposed trans-peninsular rail line, after the government's budget cuts for this year.

Hong Lei said Chinese enterprises are globally competitive in high speed rail technology and operation, and are increasingly going global.

The Chinese government will continue to encourage and support enterprises in this drive, he told a regular press briefing in Beijing.

The spokesman also said that cooperation between China and Mexico is in the interests of the two countries, and expressed hope that the two sides can cooperate more in future.

US-Cuba thaw could spell end for island's iconic cars

Yahoo – AFP, Alexandre Grosbois, 21 Dec 2014

Old American cars are seen on a street in Havana, Cuba, on December 19, 

2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

Havana (AFP) - Cuba's iconic stock of refurbished vintage American sedans from the 1950s may be facing their last trips to the garage soon, following the historic thawing of ties between Havana and Washington.

Flashy Pontiacs, Plymouths, Dodges and Chevrolets, as well as crudely patched and rickety classics make up the Communist island's 70,000 "almendrones," cars affectionately called large almonds for their rounded shape.

Fancier classic models are rented for special occasions while their more rundown counterparts are driven as taxis and by families.

An old American car is seen on a 

street in Havana, Cuba, on December

19, 2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

But they all have one thing in common: they survived the Cuban Revolution, the Cold War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The almendrones owe their lasting nature to the master skills of local mechanics, as well as to the American embargo and Cuban authorities who put the brakes on replenishing the the island's stock of cars.

Purchasing and selling the vehicles, which has only been allowed for the past three years, is only permitted for Cubans.

'Puts food on table'

The easing of the five-decade US trade embargo, one part of the rapprochement announced Wednesday, is likely to awaken the attention and desire of car connoisseurs worldwide, who are eager to snatch up the classic models.

"You would have to pay me good money to sell my car," Aramis Carmona, 40, told AFP, watching tourists from his white and red 1953 Chevy with hubcaps and a chrome bumper.

"It puts food on the table," the amateur mechanic said. "When I have a little money, I buy motor oil instead of cooking oil, because I know that that will help me feed my family."

He said he had given new life to the "wreck" he bought ten years ago for $7,000.

During the Revolution, Fidel rode around in an Oldsmobile with guns hidden in the seat. Ernesto "Che" Guevara went for rides, cigar in mouth, at the wheel of a Studebaker.

This was before Cuba decided to swap its Western cars for more "revolutionary" vehicles, like the famous Russian GAZ-69 jeep adopted by "El Comandante" Castro.

Never blotted out

In the 1960s and 1970s, Peugeot 404s made in Argentina, then Czech Skodas and Soviet Ladas tried to take over the road but with limited success, as the vintage American models kept passing from hand to hand.

Peugeots and Chinese models appeared on Cuban roads in the 1990s and 2000s, but they, too, never overpowered the omnipresent American classics.

Old American cars are seen in Havana, Cuba, on December 19, 2014 

(AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

However, few original parts remain under the cars' hoods after numerous patchups from crack mechanics who have brought them back from the dead multiple times.

Carmona said that he replaced his Chevy's original motor four years ago with a BMW diesel model that consumed far less fuel. The original went only 6 kilometers per liter (14 miles per gallon).

British architect Norman Foster, struck by the cars' looks and upkeep during a recent trip to Cuba, paid tribute in the book "Havana: Autos and Architecture," where he describes a tight relationship between the island's history and its vehicles.

He tells of Ruben Hernandez, who in 1951 bought a Buick Super Dynaflow. In 1959, his family's belongings were confiscated in the Cuban Revolution, but Hernandez managed to save the car.

The collector's item now belongs to his youngest son William Hernandez, who inherited it in 1989.

Since then, he's taken it every day to display alongside other flashy cars at Havana's tourist hot spots. For $25 per hour, he offers passersby a ride back in time, in a vehicle whose days may now be limited.

Related Articles:

Raul Castro hails removal of "obstacle" in US-Cuba relations

US announces historic thaw in relations with Cuba

Infighting cost China's high-speed rail project in Mexico

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-11-11

Mexico's transportation minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, fourth left, and dignitaries
 at a press event held on Nov. 4 to announce the contract between Mexico and
China Railway Construction Corporation. (File photo/Xinhua)

The Mexican government's cancellation of a US$4 billion deal with a Chinese-led consortium for the construction of a high-speed railway line can be attributed to political infighting, a source close to Mexico's opposition party told Shanghai's China Business News on Nov. 9.

Mexico's Ministry of Communications and Transportation announced on Nov. 6 that it will annul a contract to build a high-speed rail line linking Mexico City and Queretaro due to public concerns about the bidding process.

China's state-run China Railway Construction (CRC) Corp, the leader of a consortium of six companies that had won the rail project, declared itself extremely shocked by Mexico's decision.

Previously, the Mexican government had announced that CRC won the rail project bid as part of a consortium of six companies, including state-owned train car maker CSR Corp. The other four companies in the consortium are Mexican.

The turnaround is unrelated to any external factors but is mainly a result of Mexico's economic stagnation and social problems. Given the situation, the strong push for the project could tarnish the government's image, the source told the newspaper.

The Mexican economy grew only 1.1% in 2013, far lower than the levels seen during the last few years.

In addition, protesters' calls for justice have reached every corner of the country following the government's announcement that 43 college students missing since September were killed by a drug gang and their bodies burned on a pyre of branches and tires.

The crisis has also forced Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto to cut short his upcoming trips to China and Australia.

Because of the growing popular discontent over the case, the Mexican Congress even considered voting to ban the president from making foreign visits, a source said.

Moreover, some Mexican opposition senators have expressed doubts about possible corruption in the bidding process for the high-speed rail project as they deem a Mexican company's background suspicious, the source added.

The deal was therefore canceled after some senators asked for an explanation from the minister of communications and transportation as to why only the Chinese-led consortium was the sole bidder for such a big rail project and why all the biggest infrastructure projects launched have been won by "good friends" of the ruling party.

Nicaragua canal builder Wang Jing admits ties to president's son

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-08-31

Wang Jing. (Internet photo)

Mysterious Chinese billionaire Wang Jing has admitted to being "good friends" with the son of President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua but insists that the relationship had nothing to do with his company scoring a lucrative deal to build a US$40 billion canal across the Central American country.

The 42-year-old Wang was thrust into the spotlight last June after his company, Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment, won a 50-year concession (with an optional 50-year extension) to design, build and manage the proposed canal to provide an alternative trade route to the Panama Canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Late last year he also announced plans to invest US10 billion in a deepwater port in Crimea, then part of Ukraine, though that project has been suspended indefinitely due to the peninsula's annexation by Russia and the ongoing instability in the region.

In an exclusive interview posted on Huanqiu.com, the Chinese-language website of the nationalistic Global Times tabloid, Wang openly confirmed rumors that he is friends with Laureano Ortega, the son of Nicaragua's president, but staunchly denied that it had any connection to his company winning the canal concession.

"Any personal feelings would be unable to affect a project as important as this canal," he said, adding that the project was formed within an "open, fair, equitable and transparent legal framework."

Wang said in the interview that he decided to take on the canal project for three main reasons. First, he believes the world has a pressing need for the canal due to the explosive growth in international trade, resulting in month-long queues for some vessels to pass the Panama Canal. Second, he believes Chinese enterprises are best equipped to handle the project because of their experience in infrastructure construction and their investment and financing ability, as well as their economic, technological, engineering and other advantages. Third, Wang said, "Somebody has to do it."

The billionaire said that he is investing a lot of his own money into the project, noting that he is shelling out at least US$7-$8 million and perhaps as much as US$20 million a month out of his own pocket.

Wang also provided an update on the project, noting that it was progressing well with more than a dozen companies on board, including state-owned enterprises, foreign companies, financial institutions, equipment manufacturers and design engineers. He emphasized, however, that his company holds the largest share in the project and will continue to be its controlling shareholder and leader.

He estimates there are currently around 500 staff on site in Nicaragua, all technical personnel working on pre-construction modeling and evaluations such as societal and environmental impact assessments. In China there are about 600 people involved in the project, including about 30 people in the Hong Kong office where the canal company is headquartered, he added.

As for the future earning potential of the canal, Wang said his analysts believe it can collect several billions of US dollars in fees a year, which is important from a commercial perspective as there are shareholders and investors involved. From a personal perspective, however, Wang said he values the giant social benefits of the canal even more than the economic ones.

Despite rumors surrounding his mysterious background, Wang continued to insist that he is an "ordinary" businessman.

"I have nothing to do with the government, the military, the Communist Party or politics," he said. "I'm not a party member, I'm simply one of the masses."

China joins plans to build 'Panama Canal on land'

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-08-02

Containers at the Port of Piraeus. (File photo/Xinhua)

China has recently agreed to join in the construction of a railway linking the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, running through the world's most important shipping routes, including Pakistan, Myanmar, the Silk Road economic belt and Greece's Piraeus Port, the Guangzhou-based Southern Weekend reports.

On July 23, China's president, Xi Jinping, ended his 10-day visit to Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba. During the visits, China, Brazil and Peru jointly announced that the three nations will launch a railway project linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This is the largest railway project launched by Chinese leaders during their overseas trips.

The rail would begin from the coastal cities of Peru and end on Brazil's coast, extending more than 3,000 kilometers.

It is not the first time such a railway project has been mentioned. Back to 2011, Columbia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, said in an interview with the Financial Times that Columbia planned to cooperate with China in jointly building a railway linking the two oceans, but the news stopped there.

The July announcement didn't give details for the railway project, but what can be certain is that the project aims to break the monopolistic position of the Panama Canal controlled by the United States, making the railway the "Panama Canal on land" to help China take a more active position in linking with Africa, Latin America and the Pacific Ocean.

Currently, shipping is the world's most important cross-country transport way, while the three major shipping throats — Asia's Strait of Malacca, the Suez Canal between Asia and Africa, and the Panama Canal separating North America and South America — are all controlled by the international political and economic systems led by the US.

It's not the first time China has tried to break the US monopoly, but the railway project can be seen as a key move, reconfirming the nation's integrity in forging a strategic global transport network.

For the long run, the Nicaragua Canal has been seen as an option to replace the Panama Canal, with the western media having made reports about China's possible cooperation with Nicaragua to build up the Nicaragua Canal. But this project might have more barriers as the two sides have yet to forge diplomatic ties — Nicaragua recognizes the Republic of China on Taiwan.

Although China and Columbia's cooperation to build a railway linking with Atlantic and Pacific oceans has so far no new progress, it does not mean the two will eventually give up the plan.

Ancient Inca roads win coveted World Heritage status

Yahoo – AFP, Karim Jaafar with Roberto Cortijo in Lima, 21 June 2014

A man walking along a section of the Inca trail near the Huaycan de Cieneguilla

 archaeological site, in Cieneguilla, 70 km east from Lima, December 12, 2012 (AFP

Photo/Ernesto Benavides)

A man walking along a section of the Inca trail near the Huaycan de Cieneguilla archaeological site, in Cieneguilla, 70 km east from Lima, December 12, 2012

Doha (AFP) - UN cultural agency UNESCO on Saturday granted its coveted World Heritage status to a vast and ancient Inca road system spanning six countries in South America.

The listing of the Qhapaq Nan roads will boost efforts to preserve and promote the network -- an engineering marvel comparable to the vast road system of the Roman Empire.

Qatar Prime Minister Abdullah Bin Nasser

 Bin Khalifa al-Thani, speaks during the

38th session of the World Heritage

Committee in Doha on June 15, 2014

(AFP Photo/Faisal Al-Tamimi)

Delegates at UNESCO's World Heritage Committee voted to grant the status at a gathering in Doha, where they are considering some 40 cultural and natural wonders for inclusion on the UN list.

Covering some 30,000 kilometres (18,600 miles) and constructed by the Incas over centuries, the system has long connected the peoples of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The six nations came together to submit the bid for its nomination and have vowed to work in concert to preserve and restore the road system.

Inclusion on the list has significant economic implications as a World Heritage Site is eligible for financial assistance toward preservation and the status is also a powerful draw for tourists.

"This is a recognition of one of the most important sites in the world," Luis Lumbreras Flores, who is responsible for the Qhapaq Nan project at Peru's culture ministry, told AFP.

The road system, which reached its height in the 15th century, linked the Incan capital Cusco in present-day Peru with the vast reaches of the empire.

"The Qhapaq Nan by its sheer scale and quality of the road is a unique achievement of engineering skills in most varied geographical terrains, linking snow-capped mountain ranges of the Andes... to the coast, running through hot rainforests, fertile valleys and absolute deserts," UNESCO said in documents presented at the Doha meeting.

"It demonstrates mastery in engineering technology," UNESCO said, calling it "an exceptional and unique testimony to the Inca civilisation".

Under threat

The system, which began forming as trails thousands of years ago, linked some 40,000 people of the Incan Empire, carrying traders, travellers, messengers and armies.

A section of the Inca trail is seen near the Huaycan de Cieneguilla archaeological

 site, in Cieneguilla, 70 km east from Lima on December 12, 2012 (AFP Photo/

Ernesto Benavides)

The road system was eventually used by the mounted Spanish conquistadors in their exploration and conquest of the continent after their arrival in 1526.

"It illustrates thousands of years of cultural evolution and was an omnipresent symbol of the Empire's strength and extension throughout the Andes," UNESCO said.

Parts of the network are under threat from encroaching development. Under a plan submitted to UNESCO the six nations will sign on to an overarching preservation scheme.

Experts said they hope the granting of the status will bring the road system to greater attention and help efforts to explore and preserve it.

"We still cannot see the entire road because a large part of it is covered by vegetation," said Fernando Astete, the chief archeologist at Peru's famed Machu Picchu site.

"This road must be restored and developed because of its significance to heritage," he said.

Determining the boundaries of the site has been extremely complicated and UNESCO settled on selecting 273 components of the route, covering about 700 kilometres (435 miles) of road and some 11,300 hectares (28,000 acres) of land.

Inca road system (Wikipedia)

Related Articles:

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French cave home to earliest drawings wins World Heritage status (Video)

Brazilians protest against World Cup costs

Deutsche Welle, 16 May 2014

Protesters have taken to the streets of Brazil's major cities to voice their dissatisfaction with the money spent on the World Cup. The unrest comes less than a month before the football tournament's first match.

Demonstrators choked the main thoroughfares of Brazil's largest cities on Thursday, with police estimates putting the number of protesters at 10,000 nationwide.

In Sao Paulo, 5,000 members of the Homeless Workers' Movement blocked one of the city's main streets with burning tires. They then marched to Corinthians Arena, which will host the World Cup's opening match between Croatia and Brazil on June 12th. The two main streets in Rio de Janeiro were also blocked by demonstrations.

Meanwhile, protesters stormed the headquarters of Terracap in the national capital, Brasilia. Terracap manages the city's $630-million stadium (459 million euros), Brazil's most expensive. Protests also gripped the cities of Belo Horizonte, Manaus, and Porto Alegre.

In the northeastern city of Recife, young people took advantage of a police strike to loot stores.

Who benefits?

Many Brazilians have expressed frustration at the $11 billion (8.01 billion euros) that their government has spent to host the World Cup. They say that the money could have been better spent on fixing inadequacies in health care, education, and public transport systems.

"We thought it [the World Cup] would benefit the people but it's not turned out that way and that is why people are unhappy," Pedro Amarildo, 50, told the AFP news agency.

But former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who lobbied for the World Cup to be held in Brazil, has criticized the protests.

"The attacks against this event are becoming ever more sectarian and irrational," Lula told the Spanish daily El Pais, drawing a connection between the protests and Brazil's general elections scheduled for October.

Concerns about stability

The latest unrest has raised concern about whether or not Brazil is politically stable enough to successfully host the World Cup.

The federal police are considering a nationwide strike during the Cup. They are responsible for border security and immigration, critical functions as some 600,000 foreign nationals are expected to attend the tournament.

Last year, protesters staged mass demonstrations against the Confederations Cup, a warmup for the World Cup. President Dilma Rousseff was eventually forced to publicly address the protesters' demands.

slk/jr (AFP, Reuters)

Related Article:

Brazil poor get welfare rise and tax cuts from Rousseff

Colombia's Medellin rides cable car to a better future

Google – AFP, Ariela Navarro (AFP), 25 January 2014

Picture showing the Metrocable cable railway in Santo Domingo neighbourhood

 in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia, on January 5, 2014 (AFP/File,

Fredy Amariles Garcia)

Medellín — Medellin's "cable car of the poor," soaring over the slums of Colombia's second largest city, has revolutionized this former drug lord fiefdom and inspired other violent Latin American cities.

The city of 2.5 million, long considered one of the most dangerous places on the planet, has seen crime rates fall and neighborhood life return thanks to new public services in some of its poorest areas.

At the center of the strategy to reclaim the slums is a transportation system that now includes subways, the cable car, hillside escalators and even public libraries at metro stations.

Picture showing the Metrocable cable

 railway in Santo Domingo neighbourhood

 in Medellin, Antioquia department,

 Colombia, on January 5, 2014 (AFP/

File, Fredy Amariles Garcia)

It "creates a sense of belonging," said Juliana Correa, communications director for the Metro de Medellin.

"Before, the people of the hillside slums would say, 'I'm going down to Medellin.' Now they feel part of the city," he said.

At the Acevedo station, where the subway and Metrocable meet, a huge library welcomes residents from the gritty neighborhoods surrounding it -- and also tourists who ride the cable car for the spectacular birds eye views of the city.

"This was a very violent neighborhood, not that busy, so there was no transportation," Luz Valdes, at a small grocery store just outside the station, told AFP.

"Now there are many jobs and many tourists from far away visit the neighborhood because it's very nice with the Metrocable and library."

'Dark, long night'

It is all a far cry from just a few years ago.

Medellin went through "a dark, long and painful night", the mayor, Anibal Gaviria, told AFP, referring to the 1990s, when the drug lord Pablo Escobar unleashed a wave of violence.

Then, the city had a startling homicide rate of 380 per 100,000 inhabitants and the dubious distinction of being known as the murder capital of the world.

Last year, the murder rate was 10 times lower according to the mayor. Other studies support the claim that there has been a sharp drop in violence.

To change the dynamic local governments have employed a kind of "urban acupuncture," bringing to bear a welter of programs designed to reach long neglected shantytowns.

With an $88 million budget in 2014, the plan provides transportation at critical points and promotes education, culture, health and the deployment of security forces.

People chat next to a section of the

covered outdoor escalators at Comuna

13, one of the poorest neighbourhoods

of Medellin, Antioquia department,

Colombia, on January 5, 2014 (AFP/

File, Fredy Amariles Garcia)

The Metrocable opened in 2004, and the subway system has also added on a bicycle rental service.

But the most striking initiative is a system of outdoor escalators that has served Comuna 13, one of the poorest and most violent areas in Medellin, since December 2011.

Instead of trudging up 350 concrete steps, residents take escalators now.

"Projects such as the Metrocable, the metro, the escalators and the libraries imply the presence of the state in places in the city that had been abandoned," Gaviria said.

'Cable car of the poor'

None of this is to say that Medellin does not still have considerable problems. In Comuna 1, which is served by a cable car, gangs maintain a discreet presence.

But Ferney Navarro, a resident of 32 years, told AFP: "There is more control from the authorities.

A man walks with his mules past the

 Metrocable cable railway station in

 San Javier neighbourhood in Medellin,

 Antioquia department, Colombia, on 

January 5, 2014 (AFP/File, Fredy

Amariles Garcia)

"Seeing so many tourists coming, the government has had to tighten control. Before we were totally abandoned, but now we have more protection."

A study by Columbia University in the United States found the homicide rate in the slums of Medellin where Metrocable serves dropped by 66 percent between 2003 and 2008.

This decrease coincides with a sharp drop in homicides in Colombia -- from 78 per 100,000 population in 1991 to 32 in 2012.

The rate, however, remains well above the Latin American average of 15.6 , according to the Organization of American States.

A secret of Medellin's success has been its ability to adapt initiatives that have worked elsewhere in the world.

At the same time, the city has become "an inspiration for other cities living difficult times," said the mayor.

Thus the Metrocable -- "the cable car of the poor" -- has been replicated in Curitiba, in southern Brazil, and Caracas, capital of Venezuela.

Since 2010 in San Agustin del Sur, in the west of Caracas, a Metrocable carries more than 40,000 people a day on a nine-minute ride from the foot of a mountain to the populous neighborhoods overhead.

That initiative's success led Venezuelan authorities to begin building another cable car serving Mariche neighborhood in February 2012.

Another is scheduled for December this year for Petare, the largest slum in the Venezuelan capital and one of the most overcrowded in Latin America.