15 Laws Stalled in Quintana Roo’s Legislative Gridlock

Chetumal — Despite the start of a new ordinary session, the Congress of the State of Quintana Roo has kept at least 15 key legislative initiatives frozen, highlighting its apparent disinterest in addressing serious social problems affecting thousands of residents.

The stalled initiatives address urgent matters such as the non-prescription of sexual crimes, protection for children, a registry of sexual offenders, advance directives, regulation of vacation rentals, inclusive mobility, condominium laws, and the protection of whistleblowers, among others. Many of these were presented as far back as last year but remain archived without a committee ruling or discussion.

Meanwhile, indicators of violence, disappearances, and substance use among minors are on the rise. As of July, 265 people were reported missing, representing a 47.2 percent increase compared to 2024. When the data is expanded to include reports up to May 16, the number of people not located rises to 1,552, more than double the figure for the same period in 2022. Among them, 304 were minors, and 64.5 percent were girls.

This is compounded by the growing consumption of vaping devices among children and adolescents, despite a federal ban that has been in effect since January. In Cancún, the Centro de Integración Juvenil registered 319 cases of tobacco use among minors, including children as young as nine years old. The laws that would allow for sanctions against this situation remain stuck in Congress.

The legislative paralysis is not mere bureaucracy; it is complicity by omission. Every withheld law is a denied response to a real problem. While the state Congress feigns disinterest, violence grows, disappearances multiply, and minors are abandoned to their fate. The consequences of this inaction are already being paid for on the streets, in families, and in the statistics of a state that cries out for justice and action but receives only silence and apathy.