Latin America

Mexico’s AMLO willing to sue U.S. company over limestone extraction

Vulcan Materials has been operating in the eastern state of Quintana Roo for decades, but AMLO complains that its mining activities are leading to an "ecological disaster" in the famous tourist region

Part of the limestone mining by Vulcan Materials in Calica, in Quintana Roo state, Mexico. The government ordered a halt to Vulcan Materials, a producer of gravel and crushed stone, citing environmental concerns. Photo: Paola Chiomante/Reuters via Alamy
Part of the limestone mining by Vulcan Materials in Calica, in Quintana Roo state, Mexico. The government ordered a halt to Vulcan Materials, a producer of gravel and crushed stone, citing environmental concerns. Photo: Paola Chiomante/Reuters via Alamy

Mexico’s easternmost state of Quintana Roo is highly sought after by foreign tourists for the beaches of Tulum and Playa del Carmen, as well as its idyllic cenotes — natural pools formed by the collapse of limestone bedrock. But holidaymakers aren’t the only ones who covet the region, which makes up the eastern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula.

American gravel and sand producer Vulcan Materials enjoys a number of mining concessions in Quintana Roo, where it extracts limestone for use in construction in the U.S. The company’s activities are controversial, however, with Mexican President Andrés Manuel “AMLO” López Obrador claiming mining operations are leading to an “ecological disaster” in the region.

And far from empty threats, AMLO said in May that he will sue the company in international courts...

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