The United States stops avocado and mango inspections in a Mexican state after 2 USDA employees attacked, arrested

The United States has stopped the inspections of avocados and mangoes in MexicoThe State of Michoacán after the attack and care of two employees of the United States Department of Agriculture, according to US officials.

The workers of the Animal and Vegetable Health Inspection Service of the USDA were recently attacked while doing their work inspecting avocados, and since then they have been released, said the ambassador of the United States, Ken Salazar, in a statement on Tuesday.

His statement gave no more details about the incident. He said that inspections will be suspended until security problems have been solved.

The governor of Michoacán, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, told journalists on Monday that Mexican authorities were in contact with US officials and were working to resolve the situation, according to The News. Meanwhile, Mexican exports were not completely blocked and the pause would not affect avocados and mangoes that are already in transit, according to Salazar.

The suspension continues A Violent Streak in Michoacánwhich is one of Mexico’s main avocado exporters and represents the majority of Mexico’s avocado production. The State is plagued by the poster’s violence as the fight between the new generation of Jalisco and the Michoacán gang, The Viagras, occurs.

The State Department issued a level 4 travel notice for Michoacán last week, advising Americans who do not travel to the State due to crimes and kidnapping concerns.

Salazar will travel to Mexico next week to meet Bedolla to address security concerns, among other issues.

“I have been closely monitoring the situation and I remained in direct contact with federal government and federal state officials,” said Salazar.

In May, 18 bodies They were found In Michoacán, with nine of them containing messages aimed at a criminal group. In March, a police officer was As reported, beheaded and two of his bodyguards were killed in an attack on a road.

Two years ago, the United States briefly prohibited Mexico’s avocado imports after Threats to an inspector of the USDA.

• Mexico