LatinNews Daily - 06 February 2024

*Transport workers in Mexico have continued to strike and block roads in protest at the lack of security on Mexico’s roads. According to local press reports, roads have been blocked in states including Chiapas, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Veracruz, Estado de México (Edomex), Michoacán, Querétaro, Jalisco, and Hidalgo. This comes after the government announced it had reached an agreement with trucking unions on 4 February to avoid such a strike. In a statement, the interior ministry (Segob) said it had held a meeting together with representatives from the federal transport ministry (SICT), national guard (GN), and union representatives to “design actions that address the need to provide security on the country's highways”. Segob said agreements had been reached with trucker, haulier, and cargo transport unions Federación Mexicoamericana de Transportistas (Fematrac), Organización Integradora de Derechos Convencionales (Indeco), Alianza Mexicana de Transportistas (Amtac), and Unión de Transportistas de Carga (Utracasin), to set up dialogue tables to address highway safety, administrative attention, and liaison with state and municipal authorities. As a result of the dialogue, Segob stated that the unions said “they will not carry out any national strike or blockade of federal highways in the demonstrations carried out with their members”. Attacks on truckers and other transport workers are an increasing issue in Mexico. On 5 February, four transport workers were killed in Chilpancingo, capital of Guerrero state, according to the state attorney general’s office (FGE).