JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – As farmers shut down highways and blocked truck access to U.S. ports of entry for a second consecutive day, the President of Mexico said she wanted to clarify what the ruckus was about.
“There is a new water law. Some are protesting to keep privileges that should not exist anymore. The Water Law aims to return water to the nation, guarantee the human right to water and that water no longer be used as merchandise,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday.
That was in Mexico City. In Juarez, farmers placing tractors on access roads to commercial border crossings had a different story.
“Farmers need credits for machine parts and for seeds. We want safer highways,” said Heraclio Rodriguez, a protest leader in Juarez. “We are worried they are taking away our water rights. If they do that, we are finished.”
Juarez industry officials said more than 7,000 trucks have been prevented from delivering merchandise to the United States in the past two days.
At issue is a 1992 law to protect Mexican farmers once a free trade agreement that would open the door to farm imports from Canada and the United States was finalized. It gave farmers water rights which they could transfer.
But in 2025, Mexico is trying to cope with a rising population (130 million, most of them in cities) and their need for potable water. It’s also trying to better manage its water supply as U.S. lawmakers demand the country make good on its outstanding water debt to America under a 1944 binational treaty.
Sheinbaum on Monday said she invited the farmers to the negotiating table long before they decided to block highways. She showed a graphic during her daily news conference showing highway robberies – the security issue farmers complained about – are down 54 percent this year.
“There was no reason for a protest because there is a permanent work group. The dialogue is open. If there wasn’t, you would understand the protest,” Sheinbaum said.
She said 70 percent of all water extracted through wells in Mexico is being used for irrigation.
“They are being given all irrigation water (they need) for farming. In return they have to return part of the water to the people,” the president said.
A handful of Juarez residents interviewed on Tuesday expressed frustration with the highway closings and feared the protest would spill onto regular passenger traffic lanes.
“You cannot even go to Chihuahua City because I understand the highway is blocked,” said resident Eligio Romero. “They are affecting a lot of people.”
As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, farmers were still blocking the Mexican side of commercial lanes at the Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge, the Bridge of the Americas, and the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry in Tornillo, Texas.
Mexican officials also reported on-and-off closings of Federal Highway 45 (the Pan American Highway) south of Chihuahua City and near Parral, as well as the Jimenez-Durango highway.
Mexican news outlets late Tuesday reported the farmers had ended their blockades in several several states, but others continued the protest.
ProVideo contributed to this report.