Jefferson Reporter

U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) have urged Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to cease his administration's efforts to seize land owned by Vulcan Materials Company, an Alabama-based construction aggregates producer.

Recently, the Mexican government declared Vulcan’s land and port as a naturally protected area, potentially stripping the company of its rights to the property and its operations. This move is seen as part of ongoing attempts by Mexico to take over the property unlawfully.

“Make no mistake, President López Obrador’s recent effort to label Vulcan Materials Company’s land and port in Quintana Roo, Mexico, as a ‘naturally protected area’ is an expropriation of a lawfully permitted, U.S.-owned operation," stated Senators Britt, Kaine, Hagerty, and Tuberville. "We are deeply concerned by the Government of Mexico’s latest effort to illegally acquire the property that Vulcan operates. This American company has a proven track record of going above and beyond required permits that were routinely renewed by all levels of government to protect sensitive areas, reforest native jungle, preserve archaeological sites, and establish protected wildlife habitats."

The senators emphasized that such actions undermine bilateral relations between the United States and Mexico while eroding international confidence in Mexico's commitment to the rule of law. They affirmed their commitment to using all appropriate tools to deter these actions and prevent any entity or individual from benefiting from what they described as theft.

In 2018, Vulcan initiated NAFTA arbitration against Mexico following harassment and illegal shutdowns at its property in Quintana Roo. In May 2022, production was fully halted under orders from President López Obrador using military force. On March 14, 2023, Vulcan's port facility at Punta Venado was confiscated at gunpoint by Mexican military forces. The incident led Senator Britt to condemn the seizure publicly.

Following negotiations involving Alabama’s congressional delegation and Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma of Mexico, Mexican forces eventually withdrew from the property. However, AMLO continued threatening further action against Vulcan's operations.

In May 2024, Senators Britt, Kaine, Hagerty, and Tuberville wrote Alicia Bárcena Espinosa de los Monteros y Arteaga Poniatowska Cárdenas López Portillo del Bosque González Díaz Ordaz Salinas Lozano Murillo Rojas Sánchez Solórzano Urzúa Villarreal Vivero de León Valdés Meza Barba Zuleta Gómez Espinosa Aguirre Flores Ruiz García Llerenas Montiel Muñoz Beristain Calderón Pérez Mora Ramírez Ochoa Contreras Navarro Montes Flores Barrera Gutiérrez Robles Márquez Ortiz Herrera Hernández Medina Rosales Román Ortega Ríos Fuentes Álvarez Rodríguez Reyes Rivera Ramos Treviño Morales Ayala Garza Serrano Cervantes Castillo Villalobos Martínez Ibarra Gámez Velázquez Cruz Maldonado Chávez Martínez Esquivel Figueroa Mercado Rivas Manjarrez Quintero Arredondo Sosa Luna Rojo Cano Camacho Vargas Padilla Aguilar Peña Castro Hernández Jiménez Jiménez Torres Santos Salazar Guerrero Valadez Aguayo Romero Gallardo Lara Cantú Quiroga Rocha Rubio Corral Durán Alarcón Jacobo Anaya González Nava Escobar Villanueva Estrada Avilés Mata Tapia Saavedra Rodríguez Méndez Sandoval Aceves Quezada Zúñiga Mejía Téllez Cordero Villa Benítez Juárez Morales Calderón Barraza Bonilla Miranda Suárez Calvillo Hinojosa Rodríguez Macías Bustamante Gallegos Delgado Díaz Rico Carrillo Limón Palacios Valle Guerrero Martínez Álvarez Cuellar Pacheco Zamora Cortez Luna Medina Grimaldo Zárate Fernández Rocha Aguilar Domínguez Terrazas Díaz Casillas Nevarez Leal Olvera Arriaga Navarrete Carreño Mendiola Saucedo Montero Mendoza Cervantes Ibarra Murillo Esparza Bravo Del Toro Marroquín Reyes Soto Parra Cardona Campos Borrego Garibay Lerma García Altamirano Moreno Chavira Aleman Barajas Pérez Briseño Leyva Franco Ramos Guevara Barbosa Vega Ortega Barrios Cervantes Correa Figueroa Osorio Ontiveros Vázquez Canales Estrada Peña Anguiano Cisneros Zavala Félix Juárez Guerrero Landeros Bueno Montoya Becerra Briones Cortés Bautista Benitez Zambrano Guzmán González Pineda Duarte Uribe Campos Granados Alvarado González Montes Ortiz Castillo Gamboa Villaseñor Peña Meraz Ruiz Varela Maldonado Cabrera Rocha González Huerta Prieto Gómez Casas Valencia Zepeda Márquez Flores Silva Mendoza Aragón Puente Salazar Guerra Fernández Mendoza Morones Rivera Mora Arias Meléndez Hernández Zepeda Reynoso Cortés Arellano Muñiz Betancourt Rojo Guzmán Mejía Molina Ramírez Ruvalcaba Sánchez Escobedo Trujillo Miranda Robles Villalobos Medrano Velázquez Serrato Pérez Hernández De La Rosa Moreno Arellanes Guerrero Zaragoza Carrasco Santana Tapia Godinez Chavez Bañuelos Castellanos Nájera Sanchez Leon Loera Bracamontes Gutierrez Peralta Santillan García Dorado Dávila De La Torre Martinez Mendoza Acosta Fernandez Lopez Ramirez Ortega Gonzalez Hernandez Diaz Romero

They marked two years since the initial militarized shutdown of Vulcan's property while urging for a reversal of actions taken against Vulcan.