Austin News

U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Katie Britt have issued a statement following the Mexican government's seizure of a deep-water port owned by Vulcan Materials Company, a U.S.-based firm. The directive came from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).

"President López Obrador’s seizure of Vulcan’s deep-water port represents a flagrant expropriation of a lawfully permitted, U.S.-owned operation, and his administration’s assault on the rule of law is putting America’s economic and national security interests in jeopardy," said Cornyn and Britt in their joint statement. "We have repeatedly warned him that there would be substantial ramifications if his administration crossed this line. As he attempts to execute this lame duck scheme, he will now quickly learn that we keep our promises. The incoming Mexican administration will not want to pay the crushing consequences for President López Obrador’s illegal actions, which violate both Mexican and international law, and we encourage them to intervene with all due haste in the mutually beneficial interest of both the Mexican and American people."

The background provided details that Vulcan Materials Company initiated a NAFTA arbitration against Mexico in 2018 due to harassment, illegal land-use changes, and an unlawful shutdown of operations in Quintana Roo. In May 2022, AMLO ordered the full shutdown of Vulcan's production and port operations at the property using military force.

On March 14, 2023, Mexican military and police forces breached and confiscated Vulcan Materials Company's port facility at Punta Venado in Quintana Roo at gunpoint. Although it was later announced that Mexican forces withdrew from the property, AMLO continued to threaten further action against Vulcan's operations.

Now in his final week as president, AMLO has reportedly seized the U.S.-owned port again, drawing widespread condemnation.

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