Culiacan Airport In Mexico's Sinaloa State Resumes Operations After Strike - Operator

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th June, 2023) Culiacan International Airport resumed operations Thursday after farmers left the airport premises after 40 hours of strike actions, Ricardo Duenas, the CEO of the Mexican Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte airport operator, said Thursday.

The airport announced the suspension of operations on Wednesday due to the continued protests of farmers, who have been blocking the airport's premises and access roads.

"The airport of Culiacan has reopened after the blockade of the last several days has been lifted. The terminal is ready to receive passengers safely," Duenas tweeted.

In the last two days, 57 flights have been canceled at the airport in western Mexico. As of 11:50 a.m. local time (17:48 GMT), all arrivals and departures remained "canceled."

On Tuesday, a group of several thousand farmers started a protest in Culiacan, demanding that purchasing prices of wheat and corn be raised.

Police prevented most of the protesters from entering the airport's terminal, but more than a hundred stayed there all night until new groups joined them on Wednesday and were refusing to leave the terminal and continuing the strike pending negotiations with government officials.

Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya on Wednesday issued a decree for the government to centrally purchase 500,000 tonnes of corn from small producers and managed to convince protesters to unblock the airport to continue the dialogue in the government palace. Rocha said farmers should have exerted pressure regarding purchasing prices on large buyers and manufacturers but not on the government.