The months-long hiatus in the construction of the Puerto Escondido-Oaxaca highway has have come to an end, after the people of San Vicente Coatlán met in an assembly on the weekend.
Following the meeting, members of the Commissariat of Communal Assets and the Surveillance Council of Coatlán announced they will allow work on the highway to continue.
Last month, President López Obrador met with residents of the municipalities of Villa Sola de Vega and Coatlán in an effort to find a way to continue with the construction of the remaining 15 kilometers of the highway.
After that meeting, the president warned both parties that if an agreement was not reached within a month, rerouting the highway would be the only remaining alternative.
On Sunday, the federal government announced the decision reached by the people of Coatlán, which will allow the completion of the project started 15 years ago.
A letter addressed to President López Obrador and signed by members of the Coatlán council said that “after different community assemblies, in an act of solidarity, brotherhood, congruence, dignity, but above all taking into account the progress and development of Oaxaca and Mexico, we have decided . . . to continue all the works on the highway with their respective reviews and evaluations on a monthly basis to verify the progress and the solution of the agrarian and social conflict.”
At the same time, they requested of “the community members of Sola de Vega, a real, peaceful and definitive solution to the agrarian conflict, for the benefit of both towns. We reaffirm the commitment to exhaust all opportunities for dialogue.”
The most recent official forecast, which is the latest of many over the years, is for completion of the road in about five to six months.
With reports by La Jornada
