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A28 WORLD NEWS
Friday 31 July 2020
Vehicles burned in

Mexico to protest

U.S. water payment

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives Livestock sellers bring their sheep to be washed on the beach before they are offered for sale for
his daily, morning press conference in front of the former the upcoming Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, on the beach in Dakar, Senegal Thursday, July 30,
presidential plane at Benito Juarez International Airport in 2020.
Mexico City, Monday, July 27, 2020. Associated Press
Associated Press
By MARK STEVENSON Livestock prices stress Muslims
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Demonstrators in northern in Africa ahead of Eid al-Adha
Mexico have burned several government vehicles,
blocked railway tracks and set afire a government By BABACAR DIONE and three months now. "They people are struggling to
office and highway tollbooths to protest water pay- KRISTA LARSON wouldn't even cost 80,000 find money. Only civil ser-
ments to the United States. Associated Press CFA ($137) in normal times." vants come in large num-
Mexico has fallen behind in the amount of water it DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — During Eid al-Adha, or the bers. And some of them
must send north from its dams under a 1944 treaty, Even in the best of times, festival of sacrifice, Muslims don't agree to pay much."
but farmers in the northern state of Chihuahua want many Muslims in West Af- commemorate the proph- The cheapest ram a person
the water for their own crops. rica scramble to afford a et Ibrahim's test of faith by can find in Dakar goes for
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thurs- sheep to slaughter on Eid slaughtering livestock and about 80,000 CFA ($137),
day that the protests were being fanned by oppo- al-Adha, a display of faith animals and distributing the though more handsome
sition politicians for their own motives. He said there that often costs as much as meat to the poor. ones can be sold for four
was enough water to comply with the treaty and a month's income. It's also a time when families times that amount. Unhap-
support local crops. "Some people are taking advan- Now COVID-19 is wreaking gather to prepare and en- py buyers say their money
tage now for their own benefit ... opposition politi- havoc on people's bud- joy a large feast, and many doesn't seem to be going
cians, in this case," López Obrador said. gets from Senegal to Nige- typically shell out for new as far this year.
The president criticized "the attitude of confrontation" ria to Ivory Coast, putting outfits for the whole fam- "I want a good sheep for
and the burning of federal property, and promised an important religious tra- ily. Now there is less money 225,000 francs ($387). What
"the farmers, the inhabitants will not lack water." And dition just beyond financial for those luxuries, and for the sellers are offering me
he noted that further west along the border — no- reach. Even those who can the hawkers who sell fancy is not good," said Mariama
tably in the Colorado River basin — Mexico receives afford an animal are get- carving knife sets to drivers Thiaré, a businesswoman.
four times more water from the United States than it ting a smaller one this year. stuck in traffic. Business also "Last year, I had a big sheep
gives under the treaty. Photos from Delicias showed "The situation is really com- has been slow for the ven- for the same amount."
that demonstrators used heavy equipment to drag plicated by the coronavirus dors selling barbecue grills Some searching for deals
pickup trucks belonging to the national water com- — it's a tough market," said by roadsides. have traveled further out-
mission to nearby train tracks where they were Oumar Maiga, a livestock Senegal's Livestock Minister side the capital, only to find
flipped over and and set afire. Someone, apparently trader in Abidjan, Ivory Samba Ndiobène Ka insists nothing cheaper. Others
demonstrators, also set fire to a building where the Coast's largest city. "People there is not a problem with who prepaid for their rams
commission has its offices, and flames ravaged a se- are not coming in the way supply, saying the country say now the sellers are de-
ries of toll booths on a nearby highway. Under the they usually would. We are has more than the estimat- manding 25% more to get
1944 treaty, Mexico owes the United States about in a situation we've never ed 803,000 animals need- the animals delivered by
405,000 acre-feet (500 million cubic meters) this year seen in other years." ed. Livestock sellers who do Friday.
that must be paid by Oct. 24. Payment is made by re- In Senegal's capital, Dakar, their peak business this time On Wednesday, Alioune
leasing water from dams in Mexico. Mexico has fallen thousands of sheep oblivi- of year say they're hurting, Ndong said he still didn't
badly behind in payments from previous years and ous to their fate stood on too, as consumers cut back know how he'd come up
now has to quickly catch up on water transfers. display outside the Léopold amid the economic slow- with the money for his fam-
The expansion of water-hungry crops has meant that Senghor stadium. With just down. Abdou Ka, a young ily's feast, and he called on
Mexico has used 71% of the northward-flowing Con- 48 hours to go before the salesman from the interior Senegal's government to
chos River, while under the treaty it should use only holiday expected Friday, of the country, remembers help struggling families like
62% of the water, letting the rest of it flow into the Rio Abdou Karim Seck strug- this time last year there was his. "COVID-19 has drained
Bravo, also known as the Rio Grande, on the border. gled to find a deal. a "big rush" of customers. my money, said the tailor
In the past, Mexico has delayed payments, hoping "My budget is 120,000 CFA "This year, I'm a bit worried. based in the town of Mbour
that periodic tropical storms from the Gulf would cre- ($206), and the sheep I'm We only see a few custom- outside the capital. "How
ate occasional windfalls of water. But while Hanna being offered at this price ers and they have a low do you expect me to be
made landfall in Texas earlier this month, the storm's are too small," he said. budget," Ka said. "It's be- able to buy a ram? I pray
rains did not reach far enough inland to fill dams in His sales as a trader have cause of the coronavirus. God to be able to get one
Chihuahua. q
been falling for nearly I have the impression that before Friday."q