Mexico arrests six soldiers over water protest death

Six Mexican soldiers have been arrested over the death of a woman during protests over a decades-old water-sharing treaty with the United States, the authorities said Tuesday.

The woman was shot dead last month during unrest at a dam in Chihuahua state near the US border.

"Six arrest warrants were carried out against the personnel involved ... in respect for human rights," the National Guard said on Twitter, having previously called the death an "unfortunate accident."

Farmers occupied the La Boquilla dam in Chihuahua in early September, saying they feared a drought would ruin their crops.

Under a pact dating back to 1944, the neighboring countries share water from two major rivers flowing from the southwestern United States to Mexico, the Colorado and the Rio Grande.

The United States complained last month that its neighbor owed almost a year's worth of water needed for crop irrigation, municipal water supplies and industry.

Mexico said last week it had reached an agreement to settle the debt in return for a commitment from the United States to provide water in the event of shortages.

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Mexico strikes deal with US to settle water debt
Mexico City (AFP) Oct 22, 2020
Mexico said Thursday that it had reached an agreement with the United States to settle a controversial water debt, after protests by farmers near the border turned violent. The government has been caught between US pressure to meet an October 24 deadline under a water-sharing treaty and public opposition in Chihuahua state, where a demonstrator was killed. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country would fulfil its obligations in return for a commitment from the United States to prov ... read more