•RESUMPTION: Rail connectivity in and out Mexico’s Pacific seaport of Lázaro Cárdenas has reopened with at least five cargo trains resuming operations Tuesday after Mexican teachers agreed to lift several blockades they have installed along the key rail line in Michoacán state.
•BLOCKADES: Hours after a high level negotiation between Mexican teachers and the López Obrador administration, 5 of a total of 36 affected trains restarted operations. The Michoacán state private sector estimates 4,665 shipping containers remained idle at the Lázaro Cárdenas port.
•HOPE: “We hope that in a week and a half all the remaining trains will be able to move. And (we hope) that in a month the normal operation of the railway will be re-established”, said AIEMAC, the Michoacán state industrialists association, lamenting the losses incurred due to the blockades.
•STRATEGIC: Considered Mexico’s second most important Pacific Coast seaport, the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas is a key supply route for many industries in Central Mexico. The Mexican Railway Association (AMF) estimated that the blockades cost for the railway alone was US 25 million.
