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Latino-Native American Cultural Center newspaper clippings, 1972-1988

Mexico Hails Settlement of Colorado River Dispute
By MARQUIS CHILDS

   MEXICO CITY -- A quarrel that has gone on for 12 years over the waters of the Colorado River has been resolved on terms that the Mexican Government could accept with honor. Putting an end to this long-festering sore comes as a remedy for the troubled relationship between the United States and the neighbor to the south.

   The announcement coincided -- and it was more than a coincidence -- with President Luis Echeverria’s annual State of the Union message. Delivered in person before the Congress and carried on television throughout the country, it is a three-hour report on every aspect of the past year. With invited guests from around the world it is made into an event of the first importance.
   When President Echeverria in the course of his speech told Congress that Mexico would receive “water of the Colorado River in the amount and quality we have demanded for 12 years,” thereby insuring “permanent and definitive solution of the salinity problem in the Mexicali Valley.” He drew a standing ovation and lengthy applause. He called it a “promising sign in our relations with the United States.”

   The salt content of the Colorado, resulting from extensive irrigation projects on the American side of the border, reduced normally fertile land in the Mexicali Valley to a waste. It was typical of so much that generates resentment of the powerful neighbor on the north. This was no calculated hurt but rather a matter of indifference. We were simply doing what came naturally on our side of the border.

   The agreement calls for construction of the world’s largest desalting plant in Arizona at a cost of $67 million. To reclaim some polluted water a 50-mile segment of the Coachella Canal in California will be lined with tile. Most important in money terms for Mexico, the United States will pay the cost of building a bypass drainage canal from the Arizona-Sonora international boundary to the Gulf of California. The work will be done by Mexico at a cost to the United States of $15 million.
   When the construction is completed the Mexican Government will be able to convert to agriculture again 75,000 acres made barren by the saline pollution. The wonder is why so much acrimony had to be exchanged before this reasonable solution was arrived at.

   One of the loudest and longest bursts of applause during President Echeverria’s three-hour address came when he spoke of counteracting “the isolationist strategy prevailing against Chile” by selling oil and cereals to that troubled country. He drew applause, too, when recounting how his government had backed” the just demand of the people of Panama to re-establish their full rights over their territory.” This was during the meeting of the United Nations Security Council in Panama when an American veto blocked a resolution to abolish the zone adjacent to the canal governed by American forces.
   One of Echeverria’s consistent goals is to strengthen ties with the Third World. Until the tragedy of the floods and the widespread destruction of the earthquake in central Mexico the President had himself considered going to the Assembly of the Third World powers in Algiers. Instead he sent his Foreign Minister, Emilio O. Rabasa, to represent his government at a conclave zeroing in imperialism and the great divide between the rich nations and the poor nations.
   For many Americans who see Mexico as a romantic tourist attraction, somewhere down there south of the border, it comes as a surprise that there should be an identity with Chile and Egypt and Algeria. Tidying up the Colorado River was one way to show that the United States does understand the problems of Mexico as a Third World country.

   A great many people worked on the Colorado River agreement. The retiring Secretary of State, William P. Rogers, devoted not a little of his time and effort to it. Former Atty. Gen. Robert Brownell was made special ambassador for the negotiation, and he made repeated trips to Mexico to confer with his opposite numbers here.
   At the climax, only three days after he was named as Rogers’ successor, Henry A. Kissinger arrived in Mexico City. Ostensibly, he came to attend Rabasa’s 25th wedding anniversary, an invitation he had accepted long ago. At a press conference later Rabasa credited President Nixon’s security affairs adviser with providing a major contributing force in reaching the final solution.
   During World War II the G.I.s’ favorite graffiti was “Kilroy was Here,” written up in the most improbable places sometimes far in advance on the front line. With the new Secretary of State in full swing it will be “Kissinger was here.”

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Mexico Hails Settlement of Colorado River Dispute By MARQUIS CHILDS MEXICO CITY -- A quarrel that has gone on for 12 years over the waters of the Colorado River has been resolved on terms that the Mexican Government could accept with honor. Putting an end to this long-festering sore comes as a remedy for the troubled relationship between the United States and the neighbor to the south. The announcement coincided -- and it was more than a coincidence -- with President Luis Echeverria’s annual State of the Union message. Delivered in person before the Congress and carried on television throughout the country, it is a three-hour report on every aspect of the past year. With invited guests from around the world it is made into an event of the first importance. When President Echeverria in the course of his speech told Congress that Mexico would receive “water of the Colorado River in the amount and quality we have demanded for 12 years,” thereby insuring “permanent and definitive solution of the salinity problem in the Mexicali Valley.” He drew a standing ovation and lengthy applause. He called it a “promising sign in our relations with the United States.” The salt content of the Colorado, resulting from extensive irrigation projects on the American side of the border, reduced normally fertile land in the Mexicali Valley to a waste. It was typical of so much that generates resentment of the powerful neighbor on the north. This was no calculated hurt but rather a matter of indifference. We were simply doing what came naturally on our side of the border. The agreement calls for construction of the world’s largest desalting plant in Arizona at a cost of $67 million. To reclaim some polluted water a 50-mile segment of the Coachella Canal in California will be lined with tile. Most important in money terms for Mexico, the United States will pay the cost of building a bypass drainage canal from the Arizona-Sonora international boundary to the Gulf of California. The work will be done by Mexico at a cost to the United States of $15 million. When the construction is completed the Mexican Government will be able to convert to agriculture again 75,000 acres made barren by the saline pollution. The wonder is why so much acrimony had to be exchanged before this reasonable solution was arrived at. One of the loudest and longest bursts of applause during President Echeverria’s three-hour address came when he spoke of counteracting “the isolationist strategy prevailing against Chile” by selling oil and cereals to that troubled country. He drew applause, too, when recounting how his government had backed” the just demand of the people of Panama to re-establish their full rights over their territory.” This was during the meeting of the United Nations Security Council in Panama when an American veto blocked a resolution to abolish the zone adjacent to the canal governed by American forces. One of Echeverria’s consistent goals is to strengthen ties with the Third World. Until the tragedy of the floods and the widespread destruction of the earthquake in central Mexico the President had himself considered going to the Assembly of the Third World powers in Algiers. Instead he sent his Foreign Minister, Emilio O. Rabasa, to represent his government at a conclave zeroing in imperialism and the great divide between the rich nations and the poor nations. For many Americans who see Mexico as a romantic tourist attraction, somewhere down there south of the border, it comes as a surprise that there should be an identity with Chile and Egypt and Algeria. Tidying up the Colorado River was one way to show that the United States does understand the problems of Mexico as a Third World country. A great many people worked on the Colorado River agreement. The retiring Secretary of State, William P. Rogers, devoted not a little of his time and effort to it. Former Atty. Gen. Robert Brownell was made special ambassador for the negotiation, and he made repeated trips to Mexico to confer with his opposite numbers here. At the climax, only three days after he was named as Rogers’ successor, Henry A. Kissinger arrived in Mexico City. Ostensibly, he came to attend Rabasa’s 25th wedding anniversary, an invitation he had accepted long ago. At a press conference later Rabasa credited President Nixon’s security affairs adviser with providing a major contributing force in reaching the final solution. During World War II the G.I.s’ favorite graffiti was “Kilroy was Here,” written up in the most improbable places sometimes far in advance on the front line. With the new Secretary of State in full swing it will be “Kissinger was here.”