This article by Alexia Villaseñor and Jared Laureles originally appeared in the November 19, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.
Mexico City. For the second time, sugarcane producers from various states across the country have failed to secure the government’s promised incentive of 300 pesos per ton of sugar, despite the losses they have suffered due to sugar imports.
At the meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), which lasted just over two hours, the delegation of producers submitted a proposal for the sugarcane rescue, which will be analyzed by the authorities of this agency and they will receive a response within two weeks, the farmers reported at the end of the meeting.
Ruperto Ruiz Cortés, a member of the negotiating committee, stated that “they don’t want to support us, they didn’t accept the 300 pesos, not even 300 or one peso.”
He mentioned that SADER proposed a comprehensive plan that includes crop renewal, irrigation systems, and sugar negotiations under the USMCA; however, it is a program that will benefit them in the long term, so they will wait, he said, for the response they will receive in the coming weeks.
“Right now, we want the sugarcane rescue program because we were left with overdue debts or in poverty; there was no support. Many sugarcane farming families are without money,” he asserted.
Arturo Herviz Reyes, a member of the Democratic Sugarcane Unity, mentioned that the situation they are going to raise within the framework of the USMCA so that the United States buys more sugar from us “should have been raised a long time ago.”
He emphasized that “all the proposals they’re giving us are for the future, and we’re experiencing the crisis today. There’s no answer, but we’re going to hold out for two weeks.”
“On the 3rd we will assess what they say and what they are going to resolve for us,” he said. “We repeatedly stated that the problem is the economic rescue; if 300 pesos is not possible, then there should be a proposal because they do recognize that we have a very strong loss,” he assured.
Germán Corro Galo, from the organization Cañeros Produciendo por México (Sugarcane Growers Producing for Mexico), explained that the proposal they submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) includes measures to increase social security subsidies, restructure the agricultural sector, improve water management, and address other issues. “We will receive a response in two weeks; at the moment, nothing is certain,” he emphasized.
He reiterated that “right now, all the independent sugarcane growers in the country are here. The proposal we made was for all sugarcane producers, both those with the least resources and sugarcane growers in general. It was a proposal for the 164,000 producers registered in the National Agrarian Registry, because we all suffer the same consequences.”
The producers in the delegation, from Veracruz, Nayarit, Tabasco, Oaxaca, and San Luis Potosí, did not rule out road blockades and protests if they do not receive a response. “The decision will be made collectively in the coming days, in meetings with our colleagues. We are doing our part, but we need everyone’s support,” Corro stated.
Last week, producers maintained a blockade for more than 30 hours in front of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) demanding a subsidy of 300 pesos per ton of sugarcane. The Ministry met with them and agreed to the meeting held this afternoon.
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