SAN LUIS: The protesters gathered in the lanes at the commercial port of entry, Carrying out threats to seal the border,preventing vehicles from traveling between the border in a demonstration against new rules on used car imports into Mexico.
Operators of used car lots, auto part dealers and other businesses in San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., that rely on the imports gathered shortly before noon in the north- and southbound lanes of the San Luis II border crossing, located on the east side of San Luis, Ariz., next to the Arizona community’s industrial park.
Numbering nearly 100, the protesters vowed to keep the blockade in place until Mexico’s federal government responds to their demands to ease what they say are onerous tariffs and restrictions that have brought auto imports to a virtual halt.
The protesters, however, left unimpeded the flow of private vehicles that use the border crossing near downtown San Luis, Ariz., to enter and leave the United States. San Luis II was opened about five miles to the east in 2010 as a separate port to exclusively handle tractor-trailers and other commercial-use vehicles traveling between the two nations.
The blockade was one of a number planned along the border that were aimed at pressuring the Mexican government into relaxing import restrictions aimed at protecting the nation’s domestic auto industry.
Martin Valtierra, one of the spokesmen for the protesters in San Luis Rio Colorado, said they were waiting for instructions for coordinators of the protest movement in Mexicali, but said the blockade would remain in place until the Mexico’s Ministry of Finance responds to their demands.
As the blockade proceeded Monday, Mexican federal police watched from a distance but took no steps to intervene. Mexican customs spokesmen in San Luis Rio Colorado declined to comment.
