Coffee producers from the Soconusco region of Chiapas joined this Thursday the national strike carried out by the Mexican Alliance of Transport Organizations (Amotac).
The producers completely blocked the road section Tapachula-Nueva Alemania, at the entrance to the High Zone, to demand fair prices for the grain.
As part of the peaceful protest, more than 100 peasants spilled 15 sacks of coffee on the pavement and then set them on fire, warning that if they do not have a solution to their demand, they will demonstrate in the Chiapas capital.
In this sense, Rosa Magnolia Arellano Ozuna, coffee producer said that the main demand is that the price of coffee be authorized at 35 pesos per kilogram, while the production for this year decreased between 10 and 15 percent, however, the problem has worsened due to the lack of labor, since due to the low prices many have had to migrate to the United States and abandon the field.
“The weather, the rains and all that have also affected us, not only is the price, but also the price that coffee gives us, are the rains and now you see that dryness is happening and then the price that the companies are giving us is very low in exchange for what is done in the coffee plantations”, she explained.
On the communication route that leads to the so-called Coffee Route, the protesters placed dump trucks, vans, motorcycles, tricycles, stones, tarps and blankets.
The robusta coffee producers who participated in the mobilization are from Tapachula, Cacahoatán, Tuxtla Chico, Unión Juárez, Huehuetán, Huixtla, Tuzantán, Escuintla, Ciudad Hidalgo and Villa Comaltitlán.
Source: Milenio
