It didn\u2019t take long for Mexican avocado picker Francisco Isidro to get back to work after authorities announced the lifting of a U.S. security alert that\u00a0temporarily halted avocado exports.<\/p>\n
\n
Back on the job the morning after the alert was lifted, Isidro threw a rope over an avocado tree about 20 feet (6 meters) high and climbed up. Fifteen minutes later, he had filled a box with avocados bound for the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank God \u2026 and now we\u2019re getting paid!\u201d he shouted happily after several days without work.<\/p>\n
Eight days after the alert affecting Michoac\u00e1n state and the deployment of more Mexican troops in the region, U.S. authorities fully lifted the restrictions that spurred producers to shut down operations, and exports resumed. Michoac\u00e1n is Mexico\u2019s main avocado-producing state and a region where four cartels designated by the Trump administration\u00a0as terrorist organizations\u00a0operate.<\/p>\n
By the weekend, orchards were operating again, packing plants were running at full speed and U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors had returned to certify the fruit and ensure it was free of pests before entering the United States.<\/p>\n
The workers were happy to get their daily wages back. Some producers hoped the increased security would reduce violence and extortion. Others feared the calm would not last long.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be safe for a while, we\u2019ll see what happens next,\u201d said Valent\u00edn Rodr\u00edguez, a longtime avocado industry businessperson.<\/p>\n
Many threats are possible in a violent state<\/h4>\n
The U.S. alert caught Isidro high in a tree in an orchard in Santa Ana Zirosto, an area of green, low hills in western\u00a0Michoac\u00e1n\u00a0where criminal groups are very active. There were no explanations, just the foreman\u2019s shout to stop cutting.<\/p>\n
Isidro, 39 years old and with two decades of experience as a harvester, knew that this meant either starting to look for another job until the situation returned to normal \u2014 since they\u2019re paid by the day \u2014 or supporting his family solely on what his wife earned from a small store.<\/p>\n
More than 90 miles (145 kilometers) away, in the town of Tac\u00e1mbaro, an engineer at an avocado packing plant received the alert in the early hours of the morning: The facility should be kept sealed and under quarantine.<\/p>\n
Some 200,000 people employed by Michoac\u00e1n\u2019s avocado industry were left in limbo.<\/p>\n
Authorities did not say what threat triggered the alert. But in a state where numerous local cartels make money not only from drugs but also from extortion, there are plenty of possibilities.<\/p>\n
Some growers have come to consider extortion an unavoidable production cost. A producer from Michoac\u00e1n told The Associated Press recently that he pays 1 peso per kilo exported in extortion fees and exports about 90 metric tons a day, which amounts to more than $5,000 in daily payments.<\/p>\n
In March alone, Mexico shipped nearly 4,800 tons of avocados a day to the United States.<\/p>\n
Trucks loaded with avocados are also sometimes robbed on roads in western Michoac\u00e1n. And some farmworkers have been stopped and beaten by armed men near the border with Jalisco without being told why, according to one worker who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.<\/p>\n
Mexican avocado production is US-controlled<\/h4>\n
U.S. inspectors have been\u00a0assaulted and temporarily detained\u00a0in the past, triggering similar export suspensions. On some occasions, threats arose after inspectors detected pests and were pressured not to report them, said an official familiar with their work who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The U.S. Embassy does not usually provide details about the incidents.<\/p>\n
Inspectors now have less of a presence in the orchards, which are located in isolated hills where armed groups operate with little interference, and concentrate on packing plants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the United States says that it is suspending technical services for security reasons, it\u2019s impossible to export. If it\u2019s for a plant health, it\u2019s the same,\u201d said Rodr\u00edguez, who grows, packs and sells avocados. \u201cWe are at the mercy of whatever the U.S. market and government decide to do with the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is also a political dimension, he said, adding that Mexico didn\u2019t export avocados to the United States for eight decades after a worm was found in an avocado pit in 1914. The U.S. ban was lifted in 1997 as domestic production could no longer meet growing demand.<\/p>\n
Exports rely on inspection and certification<\/h4>\n
More than 80% of Mexican avocados are sold to the U.S. Thousands of tons of avocados travel daily to the United States, especially at the beginning of the year, when demand for guacamole surges\u00a0ahead of the Super Bowl.\u00a0To keep that volume moving, certification is key.<\/p>\n
Isidro is a \u201ccertified\u201d picker. He knows how to disinfect cutting tools before using them, handle the fruit quickly and carefully, and report any spots or damage. The orchards where he works are also certified, providing dining and bathroom facilities for workers.<\/p>\n
Jes\u00fas M\u00e9ndez, his supervisor, inspected the boxes before they were loaded onto a truck with the tracking details. The trucks wait until all those in the area are ready before traveling in convoys to packing plants, accompanied by police patrols to prevent robberies.<\/p>\n
At the packing plants, inspections continue, checking quality, the fruit\u2019s flesh and possible pests. The avocados then move along mechanical lines that sort them by size before workers place them into boxes.<\/p>\n
Once labeled and sealed, the trailers head for the U.S. border. At the slightest security alert, every point along the route can be brought to a standstill.<\/p>\n
Fears remain despite the return to work<\/h4>\n
The deployment of more than 1,500 soldiers to protect Michoac\u00e1n\u2019s avocado-growing region and recent arrests of people allegedly involved in extortion have eased concerns, but only partially.<\/p>\n
Luis Manuel Soto, a 36-year-old grower and packer from western Michoac\u00e1n, hopes the increased security will bring improvements. So far, he says, he has not felt them.<\/p>\n
In 2024, he said, armed men pulled him from his vehicle and threatened to kill him unless he paid them and withdrew a complaint over extortion and an attempt to seize his orchards. The threats returned last July, even though one person involved in the earlier case has been convicted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey left me a funeral cross and \u2026 a written message saying I had only days left,\u201d Soto said from a town near Morelia, Michoac\u00e1n\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
The threats have continued by phone. Now he divides his time between occasional visits to his orchards, managing his businesses and social projects remotely, and going to prosecutors\u2019 offices to request protection.<\/p>\n
In Santa Ana Zirosto and surrounding communities, residents welcome the military presence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives us some peace, but it also scares us a little because it could lead to confrontations with some of the groups,\u201d said M\u00e9ndez.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Avocado #pickers #Mexico #restart #exports #mercy #U.S<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It didn\u2019t take long for Mexica… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4034,4697,2129,4700,1483,4698,4699,687],"class_list":["post-2420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-agriculture","tag-avocado","tag-exports","tag-mercy","tag-mexico","tag-pickers","tag-restart","tag-u-s"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/p>\n