US senators warn that they will use “all available resources” if AMLO expropriates Calica

MEXICO CITY (apro).- “If the land and port of Vulcan are confiscated, we will be forced to consider all available resources at our disposal to ensure that no entity or individual benefits from the theft of this property,” senators warned. of the US about the government’s intention to declare a property of the company Sac-Tun, formerly Calica, as a “Natural Area”.

The property in question contains a limestone quarry and the international port “Puerto Venado”, in the state of Quintana Roo.

Through a letter addressed to Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena, Senators Tommy Tuberville, Katie Boyd Britt, Bill Hagerty and Tim Kaine denounced “persistent threats and harassment by the Mexican government” against Vulcan Materials, as well as the seizure of the property by Mexican authorities in March 2023 and the recent statements by López Obrador, who indicated his intention to convert the area into a protected zone.

“These unnecessary, unjustified and unprecedented actions have undoubtedly harmed infrastructure development in Mexico and the United States and threaten to undermine the long-standing bilateral relationship that our two countries currently enjoy. In fact, they have eroded the confidence that this delegation has in the leadership of President López Obrador to enforce our existing free trade agreements and adhere to the rule of law,” they noted.

In March 2023, elements of the Ministry of the Navy, the Mexican Army and ministerial agents took over the Sac-Tun facilities – a Mexican subsidiary of the company Vulcan Materials, originally from Alabama, United States – after a judge granted precautionary measures for a lawsuit filed by Cemex before a civil court.

The Monterrey company reported that, since the end of 2022, they had difficulties accessing Puerto Venado and the facilities where their assets and products were located, since they had an agreement for the use of the site.

In 2023, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had already indicated his intention to decree the declaration of a “protected natural zone” in the region where the Vulcan property is located, which produces construction aggregates.

According to statements by López Obrador – made on May 8 during his morning conference – his government had made an offer to Vulcan to buy the property, this proposal was rejected by the company because they did not agree with the government’s valuation. Therefore, the president said that “it is simply declared a protected natural area” by decree.