Texan-Mexican border

From Port Isabel, Texas, Jaqui Drew writes: "The farmers and ranchers in the area felt that their plight is unknown in the rest of the country (quite true) so they wanted to bring it peacefully to the attention of the government and of the US. The larger trucks blocked the bridge, which is one of the main thoroughfares for Mexican produce. The Mexican produce trucks were backed up about a mile.

The Mexican farmers wanted to meet the US farmers in the middle of the bridge, but the Mexican police would not let them. Everyone finally dispersed, since the US farmers knew that the Mexican trucks were full of perishable produce, and they did not want to interfere with their means of earning a living.

Our local newspapers, in Brownsville and Harlingen, have had banner headlines concerning the water shortage on their front pages for weeks and weeks. Several friends from the Fort Worth area came down and were amazed at the news of the drought, water shortage, non-payment by Mexico, etc. These were all men who are attorneys and judges, and all of them said they knew nothing at all of the situation, it had not even been mentioned in the Fort Worth and Dallas papers. I saved all the headline articles for them. When they returned home, they said that finally the Fort Worth Star Telegram had run a very well researched article, which they sent to me, and which I quoted to you.

It is hard to believe that such a gigantic problem can exist in the same state, even though Texas is rather large, and no one out of the area knows anything about it. Perhaps it is because there has been severe flooding with loss of life about three hundred miles north. If one is sopping wet it is difficult to imagine drought.

A representative from Chihuahua angered everyone today by stating that the 1944 treaty was a federal treaty and had nothing to do with Chihuahua - Chihuahua had made no treaty with anyone...it defies even discussion. At this point government subsidies is keeping the farmers alive".

Ronald Hilton - 6/2/02