MIAMI, United States. — The Cuban regime began loading ballast (stone) operations for the new Mayan Train project in Mexico, reported the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
“It is the first vessel that we are operating. This is something new for us. The equipment we are using is also new,” an operator involved in loading the stone told the official media.
Despite the lack of experience in exporting ballast, the source assured that the loading process —started on January 6— is taking place as planned and that the first ship will take 25,000 tons of ballast to Mexico.
The export is made from a port in the province of Cienfuegos and is carried out by the Empresa Servicios Portuarios del Centro.
In December 2022, Andrés Díaz Guerrero, head of the operations group of that entity, explained that the stone that will be exported to Mexico comes from the Arriete quarry, an exploitation area located in the Cienfuegos municipality of Palmira.
The island is expected to export to Mexico up to 200,000 tons per month of stone for the construction of the Mayan Train, one of the megaprojects promoted by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) to reactivate tourism and the economy in the south of the country.
In November AMLO had slipped that his country could buy ballast from Cuba to build the route of the Mayan Train.
The president indicated that the crushed stone used for the railways could be brought in larger quantities by sea from Cuba, although he acknowledged that such a decision would spark criticism.
“I am going to comment something so that our adversaries question us. It is very likely that for this section we will bring ballast, which is here, ”López Obrador said in one of his usual press conferences while pointing to Cuba on a map.
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