A caravan of truckers protest by driving slowly on the Mexico-Queretaro highway towards Mexico City to demand more security and an end to the extortions against them.
The truckers come from different states of the Republic such as Veracruz, Puebla, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Hidalgo, Guerrero, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa and Morelos. Most of them are members of the Union of Freight and Tourism Truckers (UTCT) and the Mexican Alliance of Transporters Organization (Amotac).
The protesters gathered at kilometer 40 of the highway at the height of Cuautitlán Izcalli and are heading to the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), where they will request a public hearing to expose their complaints.
The vehicles of the caravan carry tarps with slogans such as: “National strike, no more corruption in the procedures, we go with more strength”, “Mr. López Obrador, no more murders and no more robberies” and “Enough of restricted areas”.
Likewise, the circulation was also affected on the Veracruz-Xalapa highway by truckers who seek a meeting with the mayor of the Port of Veracruz, Patricia Lobeira Rodríguez, to demand her to update and order the necessary documentation for them to enter goods to the region.
For his part, the advisor of the Amotac, Valentín Romero Trujillo, told the media that they are seeking the attention of the three levels of government to demand more security on the roads and said that they will not give up until they get some response.
“We are fighting for what belongs to us, we do not come to fight something that is illegal (…) we are demanding more security on the roads, today we do not have many operators who do not want to work, we have had 25 operators killed, shot, in two months”, said the advisor of the Amotac.
He detailed that at least in Veracruz 500 truckers protested and assured that the workers of his alliance have their documentation in order, reason why it is not justifiable that they are prevented from entering the entity.
“The most dangerous stretch we have is in the town of La Esperanza, between the limit of Veracruz and Puebla. We have not seen a change with the National Guard,” he said.
He also reported that it is expected that 5,000 units will participate in the national strike of truckers, convened for next February 15.
Last Friday, the National Chamber of Freight Transport (Canacar) denounced that organized crime affects an average of 20 drivers daily in the country with robberies, homicides and disappearances.
Miguelina López Hernández, delegate in Veracruz of the business organization, also pointed out that the country’s roads are still highly dangerous and insecure and that one of the high-risk sections is located in Veracruz, the Cumbres de Maltrata area.
In addition, the truckers have denounced that they are constantly extorted to allow them to continue circulating on the roads and some even report harassment by the National Guard.
Source: Latinus
