Protesters take control of Mexican border crossing with US

Protesters take control of Mexican border crossing with US

Protesters took control of vehicle lanes at one of the busiest crossings on the U.S. border Sunday to oppose Mexican gasoline price hikes, waving through motorists into Mexico after Mexican authorities abandoned their posts.

Motorists headed to Mexico zipped by about 50 demonstrators at the Otay Mesa port of entry connecting San Diego and Tijuana, many of them honking to show support. The demonstrators waved signs to protest gas hikes and air other grievances against the government of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Other protests closed southbound traffic for hours at the San Diego-Tijuana San Ysidro port of entry, the busiest crossing along the 2,000-mile border, and halted southbound traffic at one of two crossings in Nogales, Arizona.

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The demonstrations, which are unrelated to the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, have disrupted Mexican border crossings for weeks.

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Protesters said Mexican customs officials retreated within minutes after they arrived at the Otay Mesa crossing.

Well, there's that.

a reply to: loam

from the article it doesn't sound like arrests were made.. this surprises me if they were disrupting what Border Crossing Officials need to do to carry out their job.

In the US I bet those protesters would be dealt with swiftly. Am I missing something?

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: loam

from the article it doesn't sound like arrests were made.. this surprises me if they were disrupting what Border Crossing Officials need to do to carry out their job.

In the US I bet those protesters would be dealt with swiftly. Am I missing something?

Yes, you're missing something. They're on the Mexican side, not the US. Their border folks walked off, and the US has no authority to cross the border and arrest them on their own soil. It's safe to say there's little incentive for Mexican officials to arrest them.

That would imply the Mexican government gave a taco about border security a reply to: FamCore

Strange the border guards would just walk away. I wonder if this was arranged by a cartel that had an unusually large shipment of guns or money to get through?

a reply to: loam

i am missing something

how does this particular action forward the aims of the petrol price protest ???

i am [ for once not being snarky - i really dont get it ]

if they were blocking access roads to a refinery - or laying seige to tax offices it would make sense

but this doesnt have any logical link

a reply to: Nyiah

I guess I'm also not understanding why the Mexican Border Security walked off "shortly after protesters arrived".

"Okay folks, everyone take the day off. We've got about 50 people with signs complaining about high gas prices"

Is it a cultural thing? A government job thing? I don't get it - at every job I've ever held, from maintenance to office jobs to sales to hospital work, I have never just walked off the job or even been told my my superiors to "take the day". I don't get it

a reply to: ignorant_ape

a 22-year old protester said in the article they were doing it because they want to make sure they are being "noticed".

Perhaps they lived close to the border and it was a convenience-location? One that would get the government's attention?

a reply to: ignorant_ape

how does this particular action forward the aims of the petrol price protest ???

To put it bluntly.

Protestors in general aren't a very bright lot.

Just goes to show it's no matter where one goes.

Kind of a good way to distract the workers and increase drugs and illegal stuff from crossing the boarder. That kind of activity should not be allowed. Sounds like the Mexican workers just walked away, they are probably disgusted with these kind of people making their job hard.

Very strange that the border control employees left haha

I also don't really understand the logic behind this protest or similar protests that take something irrelevant to the point they want to make and disrupt it.

It could be that the border guards were in agreement with the protesters and walked away as a form of solidarity.
Any way why should the Mexicans be bothered with traffic coming from the US? What would any American want to smuggle into Mexico? I think the way contraband would travel is Mexico to the US not the other way round so why would the Mexicans bother?

This is why we NEED a wall, the Mexican authorities can`t be relied upon to keep people from crossing the border illegally.
They abandoned their posts when confronted by unarmed protesters how can they be depended on to stand their posts and stop illegal border crossings when confronted by armed smugglers?

originally posted by: Tardacus
This is why we NEED a wall, the Mexican authorities can`t be relied upon to keep people from crossing the border illegally.
They abandoned their posts when confronted by unarmed protesters how can they be depended on to stand their posts and stop illegal border crossings when confronted by armed smugglers?

Huh? The Mexicans control people entering Mexico, not leaving. That's your job.

a reply to: loam

I think this might give us some insight.