Violence Erupts in Cancún’s ‘Paraiso Maya’ – Three Dead!

A protest by 150 taxi drivers from the "Adolfo López Mateo" union ended after six hours, following a blockade at the entrance to Cozumel airport. The protest was against the use of federal plated transportation.

Anuar García García, delegate of the Institute of Mobility of the State of Quintana Roo (Imoveqroo), and also a taxi partner, arrived at the blockade around 2 pm to negotiate with the protesters.

Before his arrival, the taxi drivers had been protesting for over five hours on the Airport Boulevard with 65 Avenue. They had set up barriers and banners to prevent vehicles from providing transportation services from the airport to various hotels on the island.

The banners carried messages such as "Mario Peralta, you pretend to fill your pockets at the expense of the working people of Cozumel" and "we request your support governor, no to illegal transport".

In a separate incident around 10 am, a group of taxi drivers threw stones at a federal transport vehicle that was boarding tourists at the entrance of the Iberostar hotel.

Upon García García's arrival, he spoke with Arturo Payán, secretary general of the union, for about five minutes. They agreed to sign an agreement with local and state authorities to initiate discussions about tourist transportation between taxi drivers and owners of federal plates.

During the conversation, Payán warned García García that he would not be held responsible if another federal transport vehicle was attacked by taxi drivers. This would occur if a vehicle with federal plates was seen operating normally, thereby "breaking the agreement to define the issue with the dialogue tables".

The state authority did not respond to this threat.

After the protest, the taxi drivers positioned themselves at the crossroads of Avenues 65 and Antonio Gonzalez Fernández until Calle 12 in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood. Others were from 65 to avenue 55 and other streets adjacent to the airport.

The presence of these taxis caused slow traffic around the airport. However, traffic returned to normal in the area after an hour and a half.