The Government of Mexico again defended this Friday dialogue as the “best solution” to meet the demands of producers, transporters, and farmers, who announced new blockades across the country for next Monday as a protest measure. In a joint communiqué, the Secretariats of the Interior and of Agriculture criticized this announcement and stressed their willingness to dialogue to address the issues, “at all times respecting freedom of expression and, at the same time, guaranteeing the right to free transit.” “Conflicts cannot be resolved with blockades that affect the citizenry, or by putting partisan interests first,” they stated. They recalled that members of the Mexican government have already held various working tables with producers and farmers, and that, at their request, members of the Chamber of Deputies will meet with their representatives to discuss the Water Law Initiative on the same day that strikes are planned in various parts of the country. Likewise, they explained that they maintain “constant encounters” with national and local groupings to contribute to road security and facilitate procedures in their areas of competence and in coordination with the federal entities. The Mexican government reacted thus to the announcement by various associations of transporters, farmers, and producers, who reported a “national blockade” for next November 24 to protest insecurity on the roads, demand progress in negotiations with the authorities, or fair prices for the products they market. The protests have been called by the National Transporters Association (ANTAC), the National Front for the Rescue of the Mexican Countryside, and the Peasant Agricultural Movement (MAC). As of this November 21, the organizations have not detailed all the roads that will be taken over, but they have indicated that they will be total closures, and even threatened to block border crossings in the northern country. This is not the first time they have resorted to this pressure measure, since throughout this month of November they have carried out various road strikes to demand that the Mexican Executive attend to their demands.
