Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador landed in Juarez on Friday amid rising tensions with water from the United States.
He spent about two hours at the city’s border and attended an opportunity to inaugurate six federally funded infrastructure projects as a component of his administration’s “Urban Improvement Program”.
The program includes an investment of six hundred million pesos, or $27 million, to rehabilitate marginalized urban spaces in the city, adding a detox clinic.
But the rapid closure was overshadowed by a controversy over water rights.
Chihuahua farmers and nut producers have been protesting for months to conserve the water of the Bravo River, which they say is necessary for the spring planting season, but Mexico is lagging behind in its obligations to deliver river water to the United States until the third week of October, under a 1944 Treaty.
The representative disagrees with the governor of Chihuahua, Javier Corral, who supports the producers; Obrador said farmers hold the water hostage and that Mexico will have to return to the United States.
Corral, who belongs to an opposition political party, was not invited to lupez Obrador’s occasions in Juarez.
“I don’t invite the authorities, or political supporters,” the president said at a news convention Friday in Mexico City before leaving for the border.
I said, “Why? Because in Chihuahua there is a very special scenario similar to that of water,” he said. “The Chihuahua government and some teams have made the decision not to comply with our agreement with the United States on water supply. You don’t have to worry about this dispute. You don’t have to use me. “
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“Appointments aren’t smart,” the president said at the press conference before his flight. “There’s no point in meeting right now. We’ve been. It’s a delicate situation. They’re jeopardizing our intelligent relations with America. “
During the declarations in Juarez, Obrador expressed his commitment to the other people of Chihuahua, as well as his commitment to respect Mexico’s water obligations.
“Since 1944, we have had a treaty with the United States, and it is one of the few treaties that benefits our country the most,” he said. “They give us 3 times more water than we have to give them back — that’s the deal. “
He said that fulfilling his commitments could lead to a renegotiation of the agreement, and that is of interest to Mexico.
Obrador’s time this year comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, even higher crime rates in Juarez, and ongoing border restrictions.
Landports between the United States and Mexico remain largely closed to Mexican citizens, adding Juarez citizens who have tourist visas. The U. S. government limited border crossings on March 20 and has extended restrictions every month since; existing restrictions expire on October 21.
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On Friday, Juarez reported 7691 of COVID-19 and 874 deaths.
Mexican Chancellor Marcelo Ebrard said Wednesday that the U. S. border is likely to remain closed until all states in northern Mexico achieve the prestige of “green light” in the pandemic, according to Juárez El Diario. States, Ebrard said.
Chihuahua and the maximum Mexican border states are in a “yellow” state, he said. Mexico assesses the severity of the pandemic on a gentle traffic scale.
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In January, Obrador announced a crime-fighting plan in Juarez that concerned coordination between law enforcement, the federal government at the state and municipal levels.
The city continues to face the highest rates of murders and other crimes. The state of Chihuahua recorded 2,156 murders from January to August, with 1932 in the eight-month era in 2019, according to Mexico’s national public safety agency.
Lauren Villagran can be contacted at lvillagran@elpasotimes. com.