«The situation is extremely critical. Today there are intermittent blockades at the entrances to the ports of San Antonio and Valparaiso, as well as on the roads that lead to them, and at the entrances to the warehouses from where empty containers are removed to load the fruit. We find it really worrying that those who continue with the strike are using fresh fruit, and food in general, as a measure of force in the negotiation with the Government. It seems that they have not taken their actions seriously, because the damage they are causing to the country will be irreparable. We estimate that, from today, Monday, in the afternoon we will be forced to stop the harvests and the work of packing the fruit, which, unfortunately, will have a serious impact not only on the fruit producing and exporting sector, but also on the workers. We are talking about around 200 thousand people who could lose their jobs today,» said Ivan Marambio, president of ASOEX.
He added that over the weekend there were ships that left without their scheduled loading. «On Friday a ship left with 501 TP3T of the cargo, on Saturday another left with 301 TP3T of the planned fruit, and yesterday Sunday a third left with no cargo. There are about 2,000 containers of cherries that have not been able to be loaded, which is serious. The cherry export season takes place in one month, mainly, which is not happening. The cherry industry reports around 2 billion dollars, therefore, it would be around US$500 million that are being affected in the week that this strike has been going on, and could double if the mobilization continues.", he clarified.
Given the impact of the continuation of the strike by some groups of truckers, the president of ASOEX called on "reach agreements that benefit all of Chile and its inhabitants"", hill.
