Farmers in Guerrero have continued to protest this week against the delay in the delivery of fertilizer promised by the federal government.

One group of farmers yesterday blocked the Iguala-Chilpancingo federal highway while another stormed a warehouse where fertilizer was stored in the municipality of Tepecoacuilco.

On Wednesday, farmers from Atlixtac in the state’s Montaña region blocked the Chilapa-Tlapa federal highway and corn growers in Teloloapan occupied the municipal palace.

The former agreed to lift their blockade Wednesday night after they were told that federal authorities would meet with them in Chilpancingo yesterday.

Protests first broke out at the end of May in Heliodoro Castillo, where about 400 farmers detained soldiers and police officers to demand the government honor an agreement to distribute free fertilizer.

Farmers said delivery of the fertilizer was urgent because the rainy season had started, and they might miss their chance to plant.

According to Pablo Almícar Sandoval, the federal government’s super-delegate in Guerrero, the distribution of 120,000 tonnes of fertilizer began on June 3.

But almost two weeks later farmers in several parts of the state say they still haven’t received an allotment.

Guerrero Governor Héctor Astudillo predicted that protests will continue in the coming days if the delays persist.

He said that one of the main things that is holding up the delivery of the fertilizer is the number of bureaucratic procedures the farmers have to complete in order to access the fertilizer.

The governor said President López Obrador had good intentions but the federal distributors have complicated the allocation process.

“They’ve become [like] auditors and comptrollers from the past who operate ineffectively in the present,” he said.

Source: Reforma (sp)