Farmers and truckers throughout Mexico are expected to continue blocking many of the main highways throughout the nation as they demand to be free from cartel violence and extortion. The blockades, set up in over 20 states across Mexico and virtually freezing all commerce, will continue as protesters claim their demands have fallen on deaf ears.
In response, members of Mexico’s ruling party MORENA claim the protests are, in fact, politically motivated to tarnish the image of their party and that the organizers are from rival political parties. Mexico’s Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodriguez, further claimed that many of the individuals organizing the protests were the target of prior federal investigations.
The protesters are expected to meet with officials from Rodriguez’s office this week to find ways to end the blockades.
As Breitbart Texas first reported, the protest began this week, when farmers and truckers set up a series of highway blockades throughout the country, claiming that Mexico’s government had done little to protect them from cartel violence and extortion. Truckers claimed that highway robberies and carjackings were a constant danger, while farmers claimed that organized crime forced them to pay exorbitant protection fees just to allow them to work. The protests come at a time when the perception of violence and lawlessness continues to grow nationwide, fueled in large part by the widespread corruption in Mexico’s government and the refusal by the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to fight drug cartels head-on.
As Breitbart Texas has reported, Sheinbaum has dismissed prior calls to restart the war on drugs in her country, claiming that it is illegal since it would violate the rights of cartel members by denying them a fair trial.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.