Mexican president sees conspiracy behind avocado ban
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president said Monday the U.S. suspension on avocado imports and recent environmental complaints are part of a conspiracy against his country by political or economic interests.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador put forward the conspiracy theory after the U.S. suspended imports of Mexican avocados on the eve of the Super Bowl following a threat against a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico.
In fact, the U.S. measure was due to years of worries that drug cartel violence in the western Mexico state of Michoacan — where gangs extort money from avocado growers by threatening to kidnap and kill them — has spilled over to threats against U.S. inspectors.
López Obrador on one hand downplayed the measure, saying avocados for game day itself had already been shipped north and consumed. “The truth, the Mexican avocados have already been exported,” he said at his daily news briefing. “They already enjoyed the avocados.”
On the other hand, he said producers who wanted to compete with Mexican products, or political factors, played a role in the decision.
“In all of this there are also a lot of political interests and political interests, there is competition; they don't want Mexican avocados to get into the United States, right, because it would rule in the United States because of its quality,” López Obrador said.
He did not explain what those interests were, but noted ominously, “There are other countries that are interested in selling avocados, as in the case of other farm products, so they lobby, they look for senators, professional public (relations) people and agencies, to put up obstacles.”
In fact, the U.S. grows about half the avocados it consumes and to protect domestic orchards from pests, inspects imported avocados — nearly 90% of...
