WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Katie Britt (R-AL) released the following statement after the Mexican government, under the directive of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), illegally seized a deep-water port owned by U.S.-based Vulcan Materials Company:

“President López Obrador’s seizure of Vulcan’s deep-water port represents a flagrant expropriation of a lawfully permitted, U.S.-owned operation, and his administration’s assault on the rule of law is putting America’s economic and national security interests in jeopardy. We have repeatedly warned him that there would be substantial ramifications if his administration crossed this line. As he attempts to execute this lame duck scheme, he will now quickly learn that we keep our promises. The incoming Mexican administration will not want to pay the crushing consequences for President López Obrador’s illegal actions, which violate both Mexican and international law, and we encourage them to intervene with all due haste in the mutually beneficial interest of both the Mexican and American people.”  

Background:

In 2018, Vulcan Materials Company initiated a NAFTA arbitration against Mexico in response to harassment, illegal land-use changes, and the unlawful shutdown of operations on a portion of the property in Quintana Roo. In May 2022, Vulcan’s production and port operations at the property were fully shut down using Mexican military force on AMLO’s orders.

On March 14, 2023, Vulcan Materials Company’s port facility at Punta Venado in Quintana Roo, Mexico, was breached and confiscated at gunpoint by Mexican military and police forces. Eventually, it was announced that Mexican forces withdrew from the property.

Following that invasion, AMLO continued to threaten to forcibly take over Vulcan’s port and limestone quarry, forcing their operations out of Mexico, despite the company’s consistent presence in Mexico for more than 35 years. Now in his last week as Mexican President, AMLO has reportedly had his government seize this critical U.S.-owned port, drawing widespread condemnation.