‘We want there to be zero robberies on Mexico’s highways’: Tuesday’s mañanera recapped

On International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, much of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning press conference focused on women’s rights and the actions the federal government is taking to improve the lives of Mexican women.

“There are several policies of support for women,” noted Minister for Women Citlalli Hernández, who cited the pension program for women aged 63 and 64 and “support for working mothers,” among other initiatives.

Deputy Minister for Women Ingrid Gómez spoke about the government initiative called “16 Days of Activism Against Violence Toward Women,” part of the United Nations’ “UNITE to End Violence Against Women Campaign.” (Read MND’s story on the initiative here.)

Later in the press conference, Sheinbaum spoke about the so-called megabloqueo (mega-bloackade) — the highway blockades set up across Mexico on Monday by truckers and farmers, who called on the federal government to combat insecurity and extortion and provide more support for producers of crops such as corn and beans.

Sheinbaum: ‘We don’t prosecute anyone for protesting’

Sheinbaum asserted that none of the organizers of the highway blockades that were set up across Mexico on Monday is subject to an active criminal investigation, even though Federal Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said on Monday that “many” of them are.

“The minister was asked if it was a crime to shut down highways, and it is a crime, but that doesn’t mean that we’re going to prosecute people for protesting — no,” she said.

“… Perhaps it was misunderstood, but Rosa Icela never raised that issue,” Sheinbaum said.

However, Rodríguez did indeed say that “many of these [protest] leaders have, for many years, had open [criminal investigation] files … for the obstruction of main roads.”

“Some of them have even been detained, not in our administration, but they have a whole history of blocking highways, taking over toll booths, etcetera. … We weren’t born yesterday,” she said.

On Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum reiterated that blocking a highway — as occurred in a majority of Mexican states on Monday — is a crime, before declaring:

“When there is a protest that has to do with political or social matters, with demands, we don’t prosecute anyone for protesting. That is important.”

Sheinbaum presents statistics showing a decline in reported robberies of freight trucks

Sheinbaum asserted that truckers had no reason to protest against insecurity on the nation’s highways on Monday because the federal government is already engaging with them on the issue.

“They’re talking about security. The door is permanently open [to discuss] security issues on highways with the National Guard, with the Interior Ministry, with the Security Ministry,” she said.

“In other words, they shouldn’t have protested because there is a permanent working group on all issues, dialogue is open,” Sheinbaum said

“… So why shut down highways if there is a table of dialogue?”

Sheinbaum also presented statistics that showed that the daily average of reported violent robberies of freight trucks is down 54% in 2025 compared to 2018, a year in which former president Enrique Peña Nieto was in office for the first 11 months.

An average of 14 violent robberies of trucks was reported per day in the first 10 months of 2025, compared to a daily average of 30.3 in 2018, according to the data the president presented.

For his part, the president of the ANTAC truckers’ association, David Estévez, said this week that insecurity on Mexico’s highways “has increased since the past six-year term of government and shows no sign of stopping.”

He said that between 54 and 70 trucks are targeted in robberies on a daily basis. The discrepancy between the figures he cited and those presented by Sheinbaum may lie in the difference between reported robberies and actual robberies. Many crimes go unreported in Mexico for reasons that include a lack of confidence that authorities will, in fact, investigate.

In an opinion article published by The Hill on Sunday, Mark Vickers, an executive vice president and head of international logistics at the U.S.-based transportation insurance company Reliance Partners, wrote that “organized crime groups in Mexico are now threatening U.S. companies and their employees.”

“I have been working in cross-border logistics for over a decade and a half and I think that the security environment for companies operating in Mexico has never been more complicated than it is right now,” Vickers wrote.

“I frequently talk to executives at companies in Mexico. One manager recently told me a story about a truck driver who was kidnapped and threatened by hijackers. The driver resigned from the company out of fear of being targeted and attacked again in the future. This isn’t an isolated incident.”

Sheinbaum acknowledged that her government needs to “continue working” to combat insecurity on highways.

“And that’s why the door is open with the National Guard, which looks after the highways,” she said.

“… We have to keep working because we want there to be zero robberies on all of Mexico’s highways,” Sheinbaum said.

By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)