HARLINGEN — The daily flow of Mexican truck traffic picking up diesel at the Port of Harlingen has slowed to a mere trickle, apparently the result of a decree by the Mexican government blocking “non-essential” land traffic into the United States.
“To prevent the spread of COVID-19, Mexico will impose restrictions on land travel for nonessential activities at its northern and southern border starting March 19, 2021,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry stated on Twitter about a week ago.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador early in his administration cut off a number of fuel pipelines, including diesel, due to rampant theft.
The result has been an economic success story for the port, with hundreds of tanker trucks lined up daily to load diesel for delivery to northern Mexico.
“The Port of Harlingen has seen a decrease in truck traffic over the last few days as a result of the number of trucks crossing in the U.S. from Mexico,” Port Director Walker Smith said Thursday via email.
“However, it is also not unusual for there to be a decrease in truck traffic, such as this, at some point.
“Similar to those circumstances, we anticipate this will only be temporary and will not impact our annual tonnage,” he added.
The announcement by the Mexican government said the restrictions will be in place until April 21, and mirror similar border-crossing restrictions issued by the U.S. government for its borders with both Mexico and Canada.
The Mexico order also applies to its southern border with Guatemala and Belize.
Although restrictions on crossing its northern border have been in place for about a year, Mexico had not previously placed restrictions on crossings at its southern border.
