Historic Civil Protection Drill Led by Governor Lezama

Cancún, Mexico — Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa led the central event of the Second National Civil Protection Drill 2025 on September 19 in Cancún. The event took place at Plaza Malecón Las Américas as part of the actions to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1985 earthquakes and within the framework of National Civil Protection Day.

According to a statement, the head of the executive branch highlighted, as a historic fact, that for the first time an alert from the Mass Alert System was issued to more than 80 million cell phone users. This system was activated as part of a drill for a magnitude 8.5 earthquake.

"In the future, this mechanism will allow that, in the face of any natural phenomenon, the alert will arrive immediately to all mobile devices in vulnerable zones," explained Mara Lezama, highlighting the historic figure of 130,813 participants in this drill in Quintana Roo: 38,127 from federal agencies, 21,526 from state agencies, 8,541 from municipal agencies, and 62,619 citizens.

Regarding the drill, Governor Mara Lezama emphasized that Quintana Roo is joining this Second National Drill, "a real practice that reminds us how valuable it is to be ready. Here in our state, this drill has a profound meaning. We do not face high-magnitude earthquakes, but we do face powerful hurricanes. And each season demands organization, discipline, and unity from us," she said.

At the state level, 2,113 buildings with a total of 130,813 participants registered to take part in this exercise for everyone's safety, which allowed for the updating and reinforcement of action protocols in case of emergencies.

The exercise in Cancún, whose command center was headed by Mara Lezama, simulated the evacuation of the commercial plaza following a controlled explosion, activating internal brigades, emergency services, and rescue protocols. At 1:00 p.m., an agreed-upon alarm was issued, setting in motion the plaza's brigades along with firefighters, Red Cross paramedics, Civil Protection, Citizen Security, and medical emergency personnel.

The drill included the treatment of injured persons and a vertical rescue on the rooftop, with the objective of testing the capacity for reaction and inter-institutional coordination, which was 2 minutes, with 1,198 people evacuated and the participation of 600 people, including brigade members and citizens.

The governor recognized the work of the members of the emergency services, firefighters, civil protection, and paramedics. Mara Lezama highlighted the importance of fostering a culture of prevention and recalled that since the beginning of this humanist administration with a feminist heart, the participation of companies and agencies in the national drills has increased year after year, reflecting greater commitment from society and the private sector in matters of security and civil protection.

As part of the activities of the Second National Drill, a cabinet exercise was also carried out in Chetumal at the Technological Institute, where the State Civil Protection Council held an extraordinary session under the hypothesis of a category 3 hurricane impacting the municipality of Othón P. Blanco.

This exercise allowed for the evaluation of the decisions and action protocols of the different state and federal agencies, in order to improve year after year.

A historic fact that marked this edition of the drill is that, for the first time at the national level, the National Alert System sent a visual and sound notification to all cell phones in the country, even those on silent or locked, reinforcing the capacity for immediate reaction in the face of emergencies.

Participating in the drill's command center were Governor Mara Lezama; the honorary president of DIF Quintana Roo, Verónica Lezama Espinosa; the Secretary of Citizen Security of Quintana Roo, Julio César Gómez Torres; Brigadier General Fidel Mondragón Rivero, Commander of the 34th Military Zone; Carlos Flavio Rosado, Secretary of Health of Quintana Roo; Guillermo Núñez Leal, Director General of the State Coordination of Civil Protection of Quintana Roo; and Pablo Gutiérrez Fernández, Secretary of the Benito Juárez City Council.