TIJUANA – Hundreds of truck and bus drivers in Tijuana spent six to eight hours in line for diesel fuel yesterday after being promised by station supervisors that Pemex, the Mexican government's oil monopoly, would make deliveries.
However, slow distribution frustrated drivers.
Joaquín Aviña, president of the Association of Gas Station Owners in Tijuana, said some transit drivers pushed station employees and screamed at them after they were unable to buy fuel. Diesel fuel is in high demand in Tijuana because its low price is attractive to buyers who might normally fill up in the United States.
“We are getting supplied (with diesel), and we are selling it without even doing inventory,” said Juan Jose García, supervisor of a Pemex station. “But we cannot keep up with the number of customers, even though they have been waiting for several hours.”
Héctor Campa of the federal consumer protection agency in Baja California said it had received two complaints about gas stations selling diesel to only certain customers.
He said if a station has diesel, it is required by law to sell it to whomever wants to buy it.
Omar Millán González is a contributor to the Union-Tribune's Spanish-language newspaper, Enlace.
