AMLO criticizes US for ‘unilateral’ freeze on avocado shipments

Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized the US for acting unilaterally to freeze some avocado shipments from the country but said the issue could be resolved Monday.

The US Department of Agriculture notified the Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico of its decision to halt new exports out of the Michoacan state on June 14 in response to security concerns, after local news reports that two American agricultural inspectors were held against their will amid a protest over police pay.

US Ambassador Ken Salazar will meet the state’s governor and other officials on Monday, an encounter that could lead to a resolution, Lopez Obrador said.

But AMLO, as the president is known, complained that the situation could have been avoided altogether if US and Mexican officials had discussed the matter earlier.

“We asked the government of the United States not to act in a unilateral manner, since we have a good relationship, and we are working together, so this is not the way,” Lopez Obrador said at his daily press briefing in the National Palace in Mexico City. 

The suspension is the second by the US on Mexican avocados in the past two and a half years due to security concerns. Exports from other states have continued throughout the partial freeze.