|
Truck
drivers
block
the
motorway
known as
the
Mexico-Queretaro
motorway,
one of
the
principal
access
roads to
the
city, as
part of
a
protest
in
Cuatitlan
Izcalli,
Mexico.
(REUTERS/Carlos
Jasso) |
|
Mexico
gas
price
hike
spurs
looting,
blockades
as
unrest
spreads
Reuters
Editorial
Reuters
MEXICO
CITY -
Mexicans
angry
over a
double-digit
hike in
gasoline
prices
looted
stores
and
blockaded
roads on
Wednesday,
prompting
over 250
arrests
amid
escalating
unrest
over the
rising
cost of
living
in Latin
America's
second
biggest
economy.
Twenty-three
stores
were
sacked
and 27
blockades
put up
in
Mexico
City,
Mayor
Miguel
Angel
Mancera
said,
days
after
the
government
raised
gasoline
costs by
14 to 20
percent,
outraging
Mexicans
already
battling
rising
inflation
and a
weak
currency.
Mexican
retailers'
association
ANTAD
urged
federal
and
state
authorities
to
intervene
quickly,
saying
79
stores
had been
sacked
and 170
forcibly
closed
due to
blockades.
Deputy
interior
Minister
Rene
Juarez
said
over 250
people
had been
arrested
for
vandalism
and that
federal
authorities
were
working
with
security
officials
in
Mexico
City and
the
nearby
states
of
Mexico
and
Hidalgo
to
address
the
unrest.
"These
acts are
outside
the law
and have
nothing
to do
with
peaceful
protest
nor
freedom
of
expression,"
Juarez
said in
a press
conference
late on
Wednesday.
Mexican
President
Enrique
Pena
Nieto
said
earlier
on
Wednesday
that the
price
spike
that
took
effect
on Jan.
1 was a
"responsible"
measure
that the
government
took in
line
with
international
oil
prices.
The hike
is part
of a
gradual,
year-long
price
liberalization
the Pena
Nieto
administration
has
promised
to
implement
this
year.
State
oil
company
Pemex
said on
Tuesday
that
blockades
of fuel
storage
terminals
by
protesters
had led
to a
"critical
situation"
in at
least
three
Mexican
states.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|