Full Interview With A Driver The Night Before Attacks On Truck Blockades In Reynosa
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I arrived on this breaking news story a bit late, as I was still doing work around the Lizelle Herrera case at the time. The Herrera story broke the same night that commercial truck drivers in Reynosa across from the Pharr-Reynosa International bridge began organizing a protest.
Just days before, Governor Abbott had announced that the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) would begin to carry out “additional inspections” at all international land ports. If you’ve been following this story, you know what happened next — hundreds of trucks backed up for miles at bridges across the Texas-Mexico border and an almost total disruption to trade to the tune of millions of dollars per day.
There were a lot of statements from officials. But in the late afternoon on Tuesday, I headed out to bridges to talk to the drivers.
They described how the Texas Department of Public Safety was inspecting trucks “one by one”, when inspections by Customs & Immigration as well as the Department of Transportation usually happened much quicker and “ten at a time.” They told me that drivers in Mexico were being made to basically live in the truck cabins for days sometimes without access to food, water, or bathrooms.
They described how transportation companies in Mexico were running diesel jugs to the stalled trailers 24/7 in order to keep refrigeration units on to try to save as much produce as possible. Transportation companies in Mexico — which some drivers described as small, independent brokers — were fronting the money for the extra diesel and some portions of the spoiled produce.
And they described how the truckers in Mexico were divided between those who wanted to keep the blockade going for as long as possible, and those who couldn’t afford to stop working but had their trailers stuck in the queue anyway.
After many drivers were simply circumventing the blockade and traveling to the U.S. through open bridges, this division is what set into motion a plan by blockade organizers to block off the entire land port trade block between Texas and Mexico beginning on Tuesday evening — one night before drivers in Reynosa would see armed men jumping out of vehicles, dousing trailers in gasoline, and setting them on fire.
I wasn’t able to get many more details the next morning except that blockade organizers were “in talks” with officials in Mexico.
My sources were not close with the blockade organizers, and were busy transporting outside of Reynosa or in the U.S. But the main idea was that this plan to shut down the border completely had quickly seized the attention of many interested parties.
As I called around to bridge offices that morning to see who would be open for the day, I got the same response from two ports — “We’re still waiting to find out more about a situation on the Mexican side. We’ll let you know.” — Click.
A few hours before the attacks, my sources said that the talks between drivers and officials did not end in a solid conclusion. Some said they “broke down”, another said they were just taking a break and would resume.
Later, someone from one of the bridges called me back and said in an emotional voice, “Okay, we’ve opened commercial lanes. We’re hoping and praying they do stay open.”
I thought nothing of it and began to prepare to watch the video livestream of Governor Abbott’s press conference in Laredo at 2:00 PM as I was preparing for a call-in interview with All Things Considered on the same topic later that day.
What occurred next was unexpected, to say the least. The blockade was broken up by criminal elements setting trucks on fire. In the below television interview with a driver (presumably one of the organizers of the blockade, from some of the things he shares), Milenio doesn’t go as far as other outlets to place responsibility for the attacks on any specific party.
Below is my full interview with Santos Alvarado, a commercial transport driver from Reynosa who first described to me the conditions on the Mexican side of the border. This conversation took place just as blockade organizers began to mobilize to shut down additional bridges, and the night before the attack that eventually disbanded the blockade.
For a more general update on the trade situation happening on the Texas-Mexico border, you can read my report on the Texas Public Radio website here: Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge reopens after blockade is disbanded in Mexico
Interview With Santos Alvarado (Spanish — English transcript below)
You can listen to this interview in the player below or listen on the Soundcloud website here.
English Transcript
What’s your name and what city are you from?
My name is Santos Alvarado and I’m from Reynosa, Tamaulipas.
Where did you cross from Mexico today?
I crossed through Nuevo Progreso.
And the situation here–is there no way to get across? Did you see something on the Mexican side?
I actually have my truck parked at the Pharr bridge, on the Mexican side. The situation is they have it blocked because of the problem we have here in the U.S. where inspections are at a maximum. And the drivers are distressed over there.
Your truck on the other side, you parked it and left it–why?
I’ve had my semi-trailer parked since Friday morning. But it wasn’t until Saturday that all this began when they began to block. That’s when they began to say that this was going to last until the government here no longer runs inspections at a maximum. And I can’t get the semi-trailer out of there because it’s in the queue.
Is there product in the semi-trailer that you left behind?
I transport bananas, and yes the semi-trailer is loaded. I was coming over with a load. I think the banana must have ripened already in there.
Have you communicated with your boss? What have they told you?
They’re looking for a solution in other entry points, but you’re in the middle of the queue–you can’t move. What they’re doing is refiling the units with diesel so that they stay powered on.
Where do they bring the diesel from?
They buy the diesel there in Mexico and they’re refilling the fuel tanks with jugs.
And if that banana is lost, they won’t make you responsible, will they?
No, because I’m only the driver. My boss is responsible, he’s the owner of the product.
What city is your boss in?
He’s in Reynosa.
It’s a Mexican company?
Yes, it’s a Mexican company.
And right now everything is stopped. What’s your plan for the following days? You said they’re searching for other routes for you. Have they found anything open?
Well look, the situation is that the drivers over there are angry because not all of us have supported them, and so what they’re doing is closing the other bridges. They’ve already closed the one in Progreso for vacant trailers coming back from Mexico. They’re going to close Los Indios. They’ve already closed Anzalduas. They’re going to close all the bridges so no one can get out of here and so we won’t cross to Mexico. They say “we have the Pharr bridge blocked to influence officials but our peers just go around to other entry ports into the U.S.
And do you really not support their cause or did you have to continue transporting for a different reason? Is there some responsibility that makes it impossible for you to be in solidarity with them?
I can’t support them because I earn per day so I can’t be in the queue for two or three days. I imagine they have a base pay that’s why they can have that strike there.
This bridge (Pharr-Reynosa) is completely closed. You can’t travel south and you can’t travel north, is that correct?
No, you can’t.
Okay then, and so they’ve closed Nuevo Progreso. They’re going to close Los Indios. Does that mean you won’t be able to go back to Mexico?
I’m going to try to go through Los Indios because as I was coming into the U.S. just now, they were beginning to blockade the bridge in Progreso. Right now I’m going to refill on diesel and then go quickly to Los Indios to see if I can make it across. Some friends just crossed there and now they’re in the U.S. They took about three hours to get across.
But it could be that you and your friends get stuck in the U.S.?
On this side, yes. If they close the bridges, we’ll have to sleep here.
Will your boss help pay for your overnight stay here or not?
They really have to support us in this with food, with a place for us to stay.
Will they put you up in a hotel?
Yes, they can pay for a hotel, but you can stay in your cabin–more than anything, so that nothing gets stolen.
Thank you so much for your time. Good luck and I hope you can make it back to Mexico and you can continue in your work.
Thank you.
