Mexico: Protesters burn vehicles and block railways in Chihuahua state July 30

Event

Demonstrators in Chihuahua state on Thursday, July 30, burned several government vehicles, blocked railway tracks, and set fire to a government office and highway toll booths to protest water payments to the US. Reports indicate that additional security forces have been deployed in parts of the state in case of further unrest. Protests reportedly centered in the town of Delicias, near to one of the dams where water is being released to the US.

A heightened security presence and associated disruptions are to be expected in the vicinity of any protest site.

Context

Mexico has reportedly lagged in the amount of water it must send to the US under a 1944 treaty, but farmers in Chihuahua want the water for their own crops. Mexico's president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has blamed opposition politicians of stoking the protests for their own political gain and motives.

Under the treaty, Mexico owes almost 486 million cubic meters of water this year that must be paid by October 24.

Advice

Those in Mexico are advised to monitor developments to the situation, avoid all demonstrations and political gatherings as a precaution, and adhere to all instructions issued by local authorities.