An agreement between senior levels of government and a Oaxaca municipality has started to fall apart in the sierra of Oaxaca, interrupting once again construction on the Puerto Escondido-Oaxaca highway.
Since early Tuesday morning, residents of San Sebastián Coatlán have blocked access by construction crews, vehicles and machinery on the Paraje El Limar section of the highway, which has been described as the final phase of a project many years in the making.
Residents said the blockade was triggered by a refusal by Governor Salomón Jara Cruz to respect the agreements reached earlier this year.
The municipality of Coatlán has requested access to basic services such as drinking water, medical infrastructure and educational centers. However, they claim, their requests have not been fulfilled.
On social media, the state government confirmed the blockade and interruption of construction activities on the highway.
In response to the claims made by the people of Coatlán, authorities called for “dialogue so as not to affect third parties and seek solutions through the corresponding channels.”
The most recent, months-long hiatus at the highway construction site came to a rather swift end in February after Pesident López Obrador gave Coatlán and neighboring Villa Sola de Vega an ultimatum: solve the (decades old) territorial conflict between both municipalities, or the highway would be rerouted.
By March, a confident president declared that the long-awaited highway would be completed “by July or August.”
With reports by El Heraldo de México
