Mexico to call out national guard to protect gas trucks

Mexico's president says he will call on the National Guard to protect gas delivery trucks after drivers and crews went on strike to protest government price controls

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico’s president said Wednesday he will call on the National Guard to protect gas delivery trucks after drivers and crews went on strike to protest government price controls. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he will not back down and compared the battle to his 2019 offensive against fuel thieves. Crews that distribute LP gas in Mexico’s capital went on strike Tuesday after the government imposed price controls on the fuel that most Mexicans use to cook and heat water. The crews work on commission for the distributors. Those independent trucks and their crews blocked entrances and vandalized trucks at gas tank farms around Mexico City, saying price controls will hurt their earnings. Photos posted by local media showed masked men smashing the windows of some small gas tank trucks Tuesday to enforce the strike. Others parked their vehicles at entrances to tank farms to block them.