WATER BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE: ILLEGAL DAMS ON EX-GOVERNOR’S RANCH

This article originally appeared on in the May 28, 2025 edition of Mas Noticias.

[Editor’s Note: César Duarte was previously the PRI governor of the state of Chihuahua, from 2010 until 2016. Duarte is accused of owning 50 different properties possibly acquired with public monies, with a value of US$200 million, in the United States, as well as 21 other properties and items worth between 1 billion and 1.2 billion pesos already seized in Mexico. The total fraud may amount to 6 billion pesos (US$267 million). The water on Duarte’s land was diverted from from the basin that Mexico supplies to the United States as part of the 1944 International Water Treaty. President Trump has accused Mexico of not complying with its treaty obligations to deliver water, which is primarily used in agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley. Despite massive accusations of corruption, ex-governor Duarte is on parole, thanks to the soon-to-be replaced Mexican judiciary. He recently reappeared reciting a poem.]

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced that the Government of Mexico will file, through the National Water Commission (Conagua), a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), for the crime of illegal use of approximately 700,000 cubic meters (m3) of water on a property owned by the former governor of Chihuahua, César Duarte, where a dam, four reservoirs, and a well were built, since, she stressed, the private appropriation of a national resource cannot be permitted.

The delegate for Wellbeing Programs in Chihuahua, Mayra Chávez Jiménez, expressed her full support for the actions taken by the National Water Commission (Conagua) to stop the illegal use of water at the El Saucito ranch, owned by former governor César Duarte, emphasizing that “water belongs to the people, and its private appropriation cannot be permitted on a land suffering from water scarcity.”

Delegate Mayra Chávez emphasized that these actions are in line with the principles of Mexican Humanism and the Second Level of Transformation, promoted by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who also addressed the topic this morning at her national conference.

“In an entity with so many communities suffering from water shortages, water cannot be privatized in the hands of a few. Water belongs to the people, and it should be for the people.”

“From Chihuahua, we fully support what our president has expressed. We cannot allow water, which is a right, to be turned into an illegal business. With her at the helm of the country, we know that these practices will not go unpunished,” she stated.

She added that the president’s message sends a clear signal to the entire country:

“The Fourth Transformation is not only a project of social justice, it is also a project of order, legality, and the defense of natural resources. In Claudia Sheinbaum, the people of Chihuahua have an ally who will not bow to the interests of the past.”

During a press conference led by the local director of Conagua, Román Alcántar, he announced that a dam, four reservoirs, and a well were identified on the ranch, all built without a concession permit, with an estimated storage capacity of more than 700,000 cubic meters of water, in a region with high water needs.

Chávez Jiménez also acknowledged the firm and legal work of Conagua, as well as the institutional responsibility with which the procedure was conducted.

“The institutions are acting responsibly and firmly. At Bienestar, we are convinced that only with social justice and legality can we build a dignified life for the families of Chihuahua,” he added.

It’s worth mentioning that the ranch was abandoned, with more than 100 head of malnourished cattle, and that in 2018, Conagua had already imposed a fine of 1.5 million pesos for the same works, which has not been paid to date.