U.S. Senator Katie Britt denounced what her office is describing as Mexico’s militarized seizure of Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials port facility at Punta Venado in Quintana Roo.
“President Biden must raise this directly with President López Obrador and assure the American people that this will not be tolerated,” Britt said in a statement released Sunday night.
Vulcan said in a statement to AL.com that the company has been in NAFTA arbitration with Mexico since late 2018 regarding its investments there, including the Sac-Tun (Calica) limestone quarry near Playa del Carmen.
The Mexican government in 2022 said it was negotiating the settlement of a $1.1 billion lawsuit by Vulcan over an effort to shutter that quarry, Reuters has reported. The status of that suit was not known Sunday night.
Lopez Obrador has accused the company of extracting materials without the proper permits, Bloomberg news reported.
Britt, in her statement, cited video security footage posted by Fox News that appears to show Mexican authorities in police vehicles seizing control of the facility.
Bloomberg reported that the Reforma newspaper showed police cars and vehicles branded with Cemex’s logo entering the plant.
A spokesman for Vulcan confirmed to AL.com that the video is authentic.
“Our first and foremost concern is the health and safety of our employees,” the Vulcan statement continued. “We have confirmed our Vulcan family members are physically unharmed and are focused on ensuring that this remains the case.”
Vulcan is “shocked” Mexico and the cement giant Cemex “supported this reckless and reprehensible armed seizure of our private property.”
“The government’s participation in this gross violation of our property rights is yet another example of the government’s arbitrary and illegal treatment of Vulcan and its investments in Mexico. This occupation must cease immediately,” Vulcan CEO J. Thomas Hill wrote in a letter to Mexican Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragán that was shared by Fox News.
Britt’s statement says the seizure took place at 5:30 a.m. on March 14.
“A Mexican federal district court on March 16 ordered governmental forces to vacate the premises within 24 hours, however the property remains under military occupation as of 7:30 pm EST on March 19,” Britt’s statement read.
“What exactly happened last week remains murky. The Mexican government has made no statement about the seizure,” the Bloomberg report noted.
“This forcible seizure of private property is unlawful and unacceptable. It is shameful that this Mexican presidential administration would rather confiscate American assets than the fentanyl killing hundreds of Americans per day,” Britt added.
Britt said that when she traveled to Mexico City in February, she discussed the issue of “increasing, illegal aggression by the Mexican government towards Vulcan” with Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard and discussed the matter with senior U.S. Embassy personnel in Mexico City.
“Mexico should be more focused on going after the cartels than law-abiding businesses and hardworking people,” Britt added.
“The ramifications of this illicit seizure extend into the United States, significantly hamstringing important American infrastructure, energy, and other construction projects that currently rely on Vulcan’s operations in Mexico for materials.”