This Monday morning, Mexican farmers and transporters began the massive blockades that have been staged for several weeks on roads across Mexico, to demand safety and fair prices for their work. Some of the main land routes in the center of the country have already been intercepted awaiting the authorities’ response. Tractors, trucks, buses and vehicles of all types blocked traffic on Arco Norte highways in Mexico City, Mexico-Toluca, Lechería-Texcoco, José López Portillo, State of Mexico, among many other places. The Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, assured this Monday that the dialogue remained open and called on the conveners to put an end to the blockades. “There’s no reason to hold them back,” he said.
The secretary stressed that unless the demonstrations “respond to political motivations” against the government, there is no reason why the blockades should continue. The Secretary of Agriculture, Julio Berdegué, also reported that until 9.30 am, mobilizations were recorded in four states of the Republic: Chihuahua, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas and the State of Mexico. In the latter he underlined that it is above all the transporters who lead the blockades. “In total we did not count more than 2,000 agricultural producers (in these blocks),” he said.
Berdegué indicated that, so far, authorities have held 316 meetings with transport leaders to listen to their requests. Some of this Monday’s mobilizations were called by the National Association of Transporters (ANTAC), the National Front for the Rescue of the Mexican Countryside (FNRCM) and the Peasant Agricultural Movement (MAC).
(Information under development…)
