VILLA MADERO, Mexico (AP) — As a drought in Mexico drags on, angry subsistence farmers have begun taking direct action on thirsty avocado orchards and berry fields of commercial farms that are drying up streams in the mountains west of Mexico City.
Rivers and even whole lakes are disappearing in the once green and lush state of Michoacan, as the drought combines with a surge in the use of water for the country’s lucrative export crops, lead by avocados.
In recent days, subsistence farmers and activists from the Michoacan town of Villa Madero organized teams to go into the mountains and rip out illegal water pumps and breach unlicensed irrigation holding ponds.
A potential conflict looms with avocado growers — who are often sponsored by, or pay protection money to, drug cartels.
Last week, dozens of residents, farmworkers and small-scale farmers from Villa Madero hiked up into the hills to tear out irrigation equipment using mountain springs to water avocado orchards carved out of the pine-covered hills.
What Mike Johnson said to President Biden after he was caught eye
19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium set to take place in E China
China details regulations on non
Russia voices dissatisfaction over Security Council inaction on Nord Stream sabotage
Conference on internal combustion engines opens in China's Tianjin
Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti showcases her jaw
Rays place struggling closer Pete Fairbanks on injured list with nerve
German retirees will get an inflation
Haiti health system nears collapse as medicine dwindles, gangs attack hospitals and ports stay shut