Mexican truckers block border bridges

For the third consecutive day, hundreds of Mexican truckers briefly blocked two bridges linking Mexico and the United States Friday to protest U.S. refusal to allow some Mexican drivers access.

Manuel Sotelo, president of the Juarez Trucking Association, who has led each of the hour-long protests, believes faulty U.S. computers are delaying transfer of information from Mexican authorities to their American counterparts to validate Mexican licenses, according to published reports. As a result, 30 to 40 Mexican drivers have been turned back daily.

Sotelo says the protests at the bridges linking El Paso, TX, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico will continue during part of each day until the problem is resolved. U.S. officials are reportedly looking into the problem to determine if computers are at fault.

An estimated 3,200 Mexican trucks cross into El Paso daily.