Mexico
could soon face a shortage of essential foods such as corn flour and wheat flour, as railways remain blocked after two weeks of teacher protests in the state of Michoacán, railroad operator Ferrocarril Mexicano (Ferromex) said on Monday.
Teachers from the National Committee of Education Workers union began blocking the railroad tracks on January 14 to protest labor demands. That has hampered the distribution of supplies for various industries, including hydrocarbons and grains such as corn, a staple of the Mexican diet, Ferromex spokeswoman Lourdes Aranda said.
“There may be a shortage of wheat flour and corn flour in the coming days, meaning that prices for something that is consumed on a daily basis, such as bread and tortillas, may be affected,” she said.
“There is already a serious shortage in many other industries, such as steel making and the automotive industry ...because they no longer have the necessary inputs to continue operating,” Aranda added.
The CNTE maintains the blockade despite President López Obrador asking them to free the railroad . They also warned that they will keep blocking the route until their demands are solved.
The teachers acknowledged the agreements they reached with Héctor Garza, an official from the Public Education Ministry but insisted that they won't leave the railroad yet.
The President said his administration gave the Michoacán government MXN $1,000 million to pay the teachers their wages and called the protestors to abandon the railroad .
The Communications and Transports Ministry, Javier Jiménez Espriú, insisted that Silvano Aureoles, the Governor in Michoacán , should solve the conflict.
President López Obrador
later criticized Silvano Aureoles because he ignored the railroad blockage in Michoacán because he was in Europe .
The President confirmed there will be no repression against them because he hopes the conflict will be solved peacefully.
A total of 252 trains have been unable to transport 2.1 million tons of products , with around 10,500 containers stranded in the ports of Manzanillo in Colima state and Lazaro Cardenas in Michoacán, according to railway and shipping industry associations.
Economic losse
s from the blockade amount to MXN $14 billion, according to the Mexican Confederation of Industrial Chambers .
gm