Avocado pickers welcome restart of exports to US, but security fears remain

SANTA ANA ZIROSTO (AP) — It didn’t take long for Mexican avocado picker Francisco Isidro to get back to work after authorities announced the lifting of a US security alert that temporarily halted avocado exports. Back on the job the morning after the alert was lifted, Isidro threw a rope over an avocado tree about 20 feet (6 metres) high and climbed up. Fifteen minutes later, he had filled a box with avocados bound for the United States. “Thank God ... and now we’re getting paid!” he shouted happily after several days without work.