U.S. Senators Katie Britt, John Cornyn Release Statement Calling for Urgent Action After Mexican Government Illegally Seizes Vulcan’s Deep-Water Port
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 26, 2024 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) released the following statement after the Mexican government, under the directive of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), illegally seized a deep-water port held by Alabama-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,” said the Senators.
BACKGROUND:
In 2018, Vulcan 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. Senator Britt called out the unlawful, unacceptable seizure at the time. She then helped lead a bipartisan letter to the Ambassador of Mexico to the United States, Esteban Moctezuma, regarding the militarized seizure of the property. Following a meeting between Alabama’s congressional delegation and Ambassador Moctezuma, 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.
In May 2024, Senators Britt, Kaine, Hagerty, and Tuberville wrote Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, marking the two-year anniversary of the initial militarized shutdown of the property and urging the Government of Mexico “to reverse the actions taken against Vulcan and work towards a beneficial solution for all parties involved.”
In July 2024, Senators Britt, Kaine, Hagerty, and Tuberville condemned the issuance of a declaration that AMLO’s administration would designate Vulcan’s land and port as a naturally protected area, which would rob Vulcan of their rights to the land and ability to operate the port.
Recently, Senators Britt, Hagerty, Kaine, Tuberville, Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) introduced the Defending American Property Abroad Act, which would impose retaliatory prohibitions against the Government of Mexico if it attempts to profit from the seizure of Vulcan Materials Company’s property and port facility in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Vulcan Materials Company is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
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