HUMBERTO CABRERA

IN MEMORIAN

It has been already a month (and one day) since Humberto was tragically killed when trying to prevent a girl from being raped while an assault was in progress in a Mountain climbing UNAM expedition on Cerro Telapón, Estado de México.

Nearly the day after the accident, the university went into a litigation-like defense mode on a futile effort to insulate itself from liability. The day after, on its web page the UNAM authorities issued a massage that stated: “Cerro Telapón is dangerous and therefore it is vetoed” thoughtlessly revealing a clear admission of its incompetence.

The fact is that Cerro´s Telapón is not a source of danger ever since Humberto´s tragic death took place. It was a hazardous area long before. The university authorities can say that there was no prior information to indicate that the area on which the event happened was not safe. I can answer back saying that the university did not have in place a system insuring that all critical life safety issues were covered. They can state that a bunch of different expeditions were held in that area without having any incident. I can reply saying that it does not necessarily reflect an organization well run in terms of life-safety standards; it may simply mean that the organization was lucky. They can attempt to divert the blame to “the mysterious tragic fate” by presenting the facts as if the university had done everything correctly, before and after, refusing to take responsibility of any kind. I can simply say that everything leads to think the events of August 27 were predictable, and bound to happen sooner or later. They were also avoidable.

As far as I know, as it does usually occur in México, nobody has been held accountable yet.

As you all might know Humberto is Iliana´s brother.