On October 6, 2023, President López Obrador said that the Tren Maya from Palenque to Cancún “se podría inaugurar” (could be inaugurated) on December 15. The full 1,554 kilometers would be ready “a más tardar en febrero de 2024” (by February 2024 at the latest).
The first trip open to the public ran on December 16, 2023, with delays of up to four hours. The train scheduled for 11:00 left Cancún at 15:00. On February 29, 2024, two more stations opened. Ten stations were still under construction.
In June 2022, Bloomberg Línea reported that President López Obrador would inaugurate the Olmeca refinery at Dos Bocas on July 1, 2022. Pemex confirmed that the refinery would begin operations “hasta 2023” (not until 2023). (Video in Spanish.)
In July 2024, Bloomberg Línea reported that the refinery had reached its second anniversary “sin producción comercial de combustibles” (without commercial fuel production). It counted “al menos seis retrasos” (at least six delays).
The modernization of Line 1 of the Mexico City Metro was scheduled to run from July 2022 to March 2023. The section from Pantitlán to Salto del Agua was to reopen to passengers in March. In February, the authorities moved the date to May. The May date also passed.
Expansión reported in August 2023 that Martí Batres, the head of the city government, would not give a new date: “Ya no estamos lejos, pero no te pongo una fecha precisa” (We are not far now, but I will not give a precise date).
Al rato, “in a while,” and with the diminutive al ratito. The Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México defines it as “dentro de poco tiempo o al poco tiempo” (in a short time, or a short time later). Its example: “Al rato vamos a comer” (In a while we will eat).
Ya mero, or ya merito, “almost already,” means nearly or almost: “Ya merito se acaban los nopales” (The nopales are almost gone). A la mera hora, “at the very hour,” from mero, precise: “A la mera hora, se arrepintió” (At the last moment, he changed his mind). ¡A buenas horas!, “at good hours,” is said when something comes too late.
“Las reuniones, las citas, los compromisos fijados de antemano suelen empezar con una hora de retraso” (Meetings, appointments and commitments fixed in advance usually start an hour late). José E. Sánchez, a researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) in Tapachula, wrote this in the center’s magazine Ecofronteras.
He added that the person who arrives on time is surprised to wait an hour for the start, because the meeting is called earlier so that it can start an hour later.
Ahora means “now.” Mexicans add the diminutive and say ahorita, “little now.” The word can mean right now, in a moment, or later. A study in the linguistics journal of El Colegio de México found that in Mexico City ahorita is used in contexts where it cannot be read as an exact moment.
For real urgency, speakers double the diminutive: ahoritita.