A day after delivering a patriotic speech in Mexico City’s Zócalo in celebration of the United States’ decision to suspend tariffs on most Mexican goods, President Claudia Sheinbaum answered questions from reporters at her regular morning press conference.
One reporter honed in on a letter a group of Republican Party lawmakers sent to United States President Donald Trump last Friday.
Sheinbaum rejected a central premise of the letter, as well as speculation that one of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s signature infrastructure projects was built with Chinese money.
‘There was never an expropriation’ in Mexico’s dispute with Vulcan Materials, Sheinbaum says
A reporter asked Sheinbaum about the letter 35 members of the United States Congress sent to Trump asking the U.S. president to “demand a resolution for Vulcan Materials Company,” an Alabama-based construction aggregates firm whose marine terminal in Quintana Roo was taken over and occupied by Mexico’s federal security forces in 2023 as part of a long-running land use dispute.
“As you discuss trade and border security issues with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, we ask that you demand a resolution for Vulcan Materials Company. Mexico must resolve this crisis by engaging in good faith negotiations to account for their illegal actions,” the letter said.
“… Under the direction of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), Mexico’s military forces invaded Vulcan’s facilities and unlawfully shut down Vulcan’s operations,” the members of Congress said.
“… Additionally, on September 23, 2024, President AMLO effectively expropriated Vulcan’s property by designating it a ‘naturally protected area.’ President Sheinbaum is currently considering a ‘management plan’ — which could potentially benefit Mexican and other foreign interests at the cost of an American company,” they said.
“The Yucatan Peninsula’s strategic location, less than 400 miles from Florida, requires vigilant protection of both U.S. economic and national security interests,” the lawmakers said.
Sheinbaum said that her government would send letters to the members of Congress and Trump to “clarify” what has happened on the coast of Quintana Roo.
“In that letter they’re suggesting that there was an expropriation. There was never an expropriation — the land is theirs, the property is theirs,” she said.
“The problem is that they went completely out of their authorized area of operation,” Sheinbaum said, referring to Vulcan’s limestone quarrying activity.
“They went to other areas, affecting cenotes and aquifers,” she said.
“So they were informed, they were told … [to stop] but they continued with the quarrying, and then President López Obrador decided to change the [permitted] land use, but there is no expropriation,” Sheinbaum said
“Now it’s a natural protected area where the exploitation of these materials isn’t permitted because it’s severely affecting the environment,” she said.
“… The company should have complied with the environmental impact authorization it had. No company can violate its environmental impact authorization, but they expanded their area of operation,” Sheinbaum said.
She also said that her government is “meeting with the company to look at alternative solutions” to avoid a “legal conflict” between the two parties.
If the two parties can’t reach an agreement, the matter “will be resolved in court,” Sheinbaum said.
No Chinese funding of Maya Train
In their letter, the 35 members of U.S. Congress also raised concerns about possible Chinese funding of the Maya Train railroad, an ambitious project built by the former Mexican government that runs through the states of Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas.
“Beyond the concerning expropriation of Vulcan’s property, we are troubled by reports that the adjacent Mayan Train project may be funded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” the lawmakers said without providing any information about the reports they were referring to.
“We request that your administration urgently investigate to clarify the true developers of this project to ensure the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative does not establish a presence in this strategically vital location,” the members of Congress said to Trump
Sheinbaum told reporters that the source of the funding for the railroad is “public.”
“You can see it in the public accounts reports — everything that was invested in the Maya Train is public [information], it was [built with] the resources of Mexicans who paid taxes and they came back to build the Maya Train. So there is no Chinese funding,” she said.
She said that “if any company” involved in the construction of the Maya Train had some connection to China or the Chinese communist party, “that has nothing to do with the funding” of the railroad.
Mexico’s trade and investment relationship with China and Chinese companies could be a sticking point with the United States and Canada in the 2026 review of the USMCA free trade pact.
The Mexican government is currently aiming to reduce dependence on Chinese imports, and has recently imposed tariffs on some Chinese goods, including textiles and clothing.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
