Every member of Alabama’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives has signed a bipartisan letter urging action to prevent Mexico from seizing a contested port operation owned by Vulcan Materials.
It’s the latest salvo in the ongoing struggle to end a more than two-year campaign centered on Vulcan’s property on the Yucatan peninsula.
Back in July, Alabama U.S. Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, along with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), called on Mexico’s president to end what they called illegal attempts to take property.
In a Sept. 20 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the lawmakers warn of “far reaching implications” for the two nations’ security.
The letter was signed by Reps. Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Gary Palmer, Jerry Carl, Barry Moore, Dale Strong, and Terri Sewell, as well as representatives from Texas, California, South Carolina and Nebraska.
Earlier this year, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a declaration that would designate Vulcan’s land and port in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo as a naturally protected area.
In March 2023, the Mexican government seized the facility, despite a court ordered stay on any government action to confiscate the property.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador threatened to declare the property a natural protected area or seize it by force if Vulcan doesn’t accept a $360 million offer for the gravel pits before he leaves office next year.
Vulcan maintains the Punta Venado deep-water port facility has an estimated value of more than $1 billion.
López Obrador has accused the company of extracting materials without the proper permit.
In the letter, the lawmakers say Mexico’s action “is unwarranted and jeopardizes the long-standing bilaterial relationship” between the two countries.
“Further, with the Chinese government seeking to expand control over infrastructure, including port facilities across Latin America, we are troubled by the proposition of Mexico seizing the only deep-water port on the Yucatan Peninsula,” the letter states.
“If U.S. interests lose control of this critical asset, it could lead to direct challenges to our security and trade within the Caribbean basin and the Gulf of Mexico.”
