During an early morning operation, the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Mexico (FGJEM) seized the Cruz Azul Cooperative cement plant located in Jasso, Hidalgo, following a court order from that state.
The entry into the property, which was controlled by a dissident group, resulted in gunfire, social mobilization, and a lockdown of the town. The operation was reinforced by the National Guard, the Hidalgo State Public Security Secretariat (SSPH), and the municipal police forces of Tula, Atitalaquia, and Tlaxcoapan.
Residents of Jasso—now called Ciudad Cooperativa Cruz Azul—in the municipality of Tula, reported injuries during the intervention and, according to their account, possible deaths from direct attacks. Authorities from both states have not confirmed any deaths or the outcome of the operation, although arrests have been reported of people who were at the plant. These individuals are reportedly in the custody of the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Mexico, which has also not released any information.
The cooperative members who occupied the property alleged illegal entry, claiming that injunctions prevented it, and also alleged violence on the part of the agency executing the court order.
In previous years, attempts to seize the Cruz Azul S.C.L. Cooperative Cement Plant, located in Tula de Allende, resulted in loss of life due to violence and a production standstill. The plant has been out of operation since August 17, 2022, due to a power outage. Before that, the installed production capacity was 12,000 tons of cement per day.
The Hidalgo State Attorney General’s Office (PGJEH) stated in a brief press release issued at 7:00 a.m. today that the official search was carried out by its counterpart in the State of Mexico, “in compliance with a judge’s order,” and that Hidalgo authorities “are participating in the operation to provide perimeter security for the population.”
The state police reported the same: “a request for support” to secure the perimeter, with no reports of injuries or deaths as of the latest update.
On August 31, agents of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) arrested one of the leaders of one of the groups vying for control of the Cooperative: Federico Sarabia Pozo.
It was Sarabia’s group that, until this morning, maintained possession of the property in Tula. Amid the confrontations, this faction of cooperative members had accused Víctor Manuel Velázquez Rangel—leader of the other group—of requesting the suspension of electricity service from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), arguing that maintenance work was going to be carried out at the cement plant and the electrical substation. This work was never done because the other faction controls the facilities.
For their part, Velázquez Rangel’s group has accused Sarabia of illegal possession and fraud, while accusing the Hidalgo state government of inaction, claiming they have legal certainty.
The company split into these two factions after Guillermo “Billy” Álvarez Cuevas left the board of directors in 2020. Both groups have accused each other of corrupt practices such as embezzlement and misappropriation of resources and materials, and also blame each other for the deaths.
In the operation this morning, residents recounted that at approximately 4:30 a.m., an armed group—later identified as agents of the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office—entered the area, supported by the National Guard and guarded around the perimeter—including the blockade of access to Jasso—by municipal and state police from Hidalgo. They reported that the operation was carried out despite having injunctions prohibiting the entry of the National Guard and other law enforcement agencies.
Source: proceso
