The Government of Mexico reached a series of agreements with representatives of the National Front for the Rescue of the Mexican Countryside (FNRCM) and transporters after working meetings held on Wednesday. The goal is to address the sector's demands and strengthen security on federal and state highways in a tense context due to the possibility of reactivating blockades on border bridges, highways, and tollbooths.
In a joint communiqué, the Secretariats of the Interior and of Agriculture and Rural Development stated that an operational reinforcement, accompaniment on higher-risk stretches, and strengthening of technological tools were agreed upon to protect transporters, producers, and the general public, «guaranteeing at all times free transit and the continuity of productive activities».
Specific actions were defined to strengthen the agri-food sector. Among them, «Food for Well-being» will receive a technical team from the FNRCM this Thursday to discuss proposals for the pledging of beans, corn, sorghum, wheat, barley, and soy. It was also agreed to include producers in the work of the Mexican System for the Ordering of the Corn Market and Marketing, as well as to establish an institutional route to analyze issues related to the Mexico-United States-Canada Agreement (T-MEC), in accordance with its formal mechanisms under the leadership of the Secretariat of Economy.
In addition, priority attention will be given to collection centers and food supply, the responsibility of «Food for Well-being».
In recent days, peasant and transporter organizations had warned they could reactivate blockades at 17 highway points, the takeover of tollbooths, and even customs and international bridges if no agreements were reached on a new national agri-food model. The FNRCM and the National Transporters Association (ANTAC) had informed that some groups were already mobilized on highways, awaiting decisions.
Among the sector's demands are the protection of national agricultural production through fixed guarantee prices established in advance, as stipulated by the Law for Sustainable Rural Development. Eraclio Rodríguez, leader of the FNRCM, pointed out that the agri-food model they promote includes prices for all field products, warning that they are currently marketed below production costs.
The demands include the withdrawal of one million tons of sorghum from the market to stabilize prices; the procurement of one million tons of wheat at 6,500 pesos per ton; and a scheme for 17 million tons of corn with a target price of 7,200 pesos per ton, in order to free up the market and improve producers' incomes.
Transporters, for their part, raised the need to create safe stops, issue a document prohibiting state and municipal detentions on federal highways, and establish a specialized office of the Attorney General's Office to address crimes against cargo transport, particularly theft.
Farmers recognized the progress but stated they are «on alert» in case the government does not comply with the agreements. They also announced that in the next two weeks, they will hold another meeting with the participation of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR).
