{{Short description|Mexican industrial cooperative}} {{Infobox company | name = Cooperativa La Cruz Azul | logo = Logo de la Cooperativa La Cruz Azul.svg | logo_size = 300px | type = Cooperative | foundation = {{start date and age|1881|df=y}} (as a private company)<br>{{start date and age|1931|11|02|df=y}} (as a cooperative) | location = Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico | locations = Tula, Hidalgo<br />Lagunas, Oaxaca | area_served = Mexico | founder = Henry Gibbon (1881)<br />192 founding members (1931) | key_people = Víctor Velázquez <small>(Chairman)</small> | industry = Construction materials | products = Cement, Ready-mix concrete, aggregates | divisions = Club de Futbol Cruz Azul | subsid = Médica Azul, Hotel Azul Ixtapa, CYCNA | homepage = {{URL|https://www.cementocruzazul.com.mx/}} }}
'''Cooperativa La Cruz Azul, S.C.L.''' is a cement company in Mexico. It was founded in 1881 by a British businessman named Henry Gibbon.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.gob.mx/inaes/es/articulos/historias-de-cooperativismo-en-mexico-279254?idiom=es| title = Historias de cooperativismo en México {{!}} Instituto Nacional de la Economía Social {{!}} Gobierno {{!}} gob.mx}}</ref>
On 22 May 1927, the company's workers organized Club Deportivo Cruz Azul football club as a company team, which has gone on to become one of the most famous association football teams in Mexico, winning several national and international titles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cruzazul.com.mx/2008/nuestraPasion/historiaNuestraPasion.aspx |title=CA - Nuestra pasión - Historia |website=www.cruzazul.com.mx |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302215312/http://www.cruzazul.com.mx/2008/nuestraPasion/historiaNuestraPasion.aspx |archive-date=2 March 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The football team's association leads to the nickname of ''La Máquina Cementera'' or the cement locomotive. Along with Coca-Cola and Grupo Bimbo, '''Cemento Cruz Azul''', the cement brand of Cooperativa La Cruz Azul, is one of the most frequently seen emblems on Mexican football jerseys.
With the creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, the company enjoyed the benefits of being able to transport across North America. It is now a well known cement company internationally.
Cooperativa La Cruz Azul has faced stiff competition from Mexico's other leading cement producer, Cemex, a company which has gone on to set foot on other countries, such as Puerto Rico (Cemex Puerto Rico),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/7595555Z:US|title = CEMEX de Puerto Rico Inc - Company Profile and News|website = Bloomberg News}}</ref> the United States and the United Kingdom.
==History== In 1881, Englishman Henry Gibbon rented a portion of the old Hacienda City of Jasso, Hidalgo, and installed a hydraulic lime factory. By 1883, fellow Englishman Joseph (or George) Watson, heavily invested into the factory and business. <ref name="cosio">{{cite book |last1=Cosío Villegas |first1=Daniel |last2=González Navarro |first2=Moisés |title=HISTORIA MODERNA DE MEXICO. LA REPUBLICA RESTAURADA : VIDA ECONÓMICA. |date=1965 |publisher=Editorial Hermes |page=459 }}</ref><ref name="nivel">{{cite journal |title=Cruz Azul del fuerte |journal=Alto Nivel |date=1994 |volume=7 |issue=73–76 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AbOMAAAAIAAJ&q=Henry+Gibson+%2B+George+Watson |access-date=30 January 2022}}</ref> Despite the efficient mining of the rich deposits of limestone minerals from the Hidalgo region, the business practically did not develop due to lack of capital and was bankrupt by 1906.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Historia Cruz Azul |journal=Computerworld México |date=1997 |volume=17 |issue=506–513 |page=G-18 }}</ref>
==Oaxaca attack == On 27 July 2021, a video surfaced where some 30 people are seen illegally entering the Cruz Azul Oaxaca plant and shooting the place. No injuries were reported in the incident.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oaxaca.eluniversal.com.mx/municipios/denuncian-incursion-de-grupo-de-30-personas-armadas-en-cementera-cruz-azul-en-lagunas|title = Denuncian incursión de grupo de 30 personas armadas en cementera Cruz Azul en Lagunas, Oaxaca|date = 27 July 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Cruz Azul}}
Category:Cement companies of Mexico Category:Companies established in 1881 Category:Manufacturing companies based in Mexico City Category:Mexican brands Category:Cooperatives in Mexico Category:1881 establishments in Mexico
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