Free Republic

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has appealed at the United Nations for an international treaty guaranteeing access to clean water for all. Mr. Gorbachev also lashed out at the United States on the issue of nuclear weapons. He came to the United Nations this week to press world leaders to declare access to drinking water a basic human right. Speaking at a U.N. conference on water and sanitation, Mr. Gorbachev called for adoption of an international water treaty during the September world summit in New York. "Ratification of such a convention by members of the United Nations would give...

WASHINGTON (AP)--After a 14-month impasse, U.S. and Mexican officials will see if they can establish common ground on ways to revamp laws governing Mexican migration to the United States. Migration issues is one of the topics Secretary of State Colin Powell and five other senior Bush administration officials will deal with Monday and Tuesday during talks in Mexico City. Powell and his colleagues will be looking for progress in persuading Mexico to repay a huge water debt based on a 1944 treaty. Mexico's inability to pay the debt has angered many Texas ranchers. A major concern for Mexico is the...

Colin Powell, Tony Garza head to MexicoDiplomacy: State Department team lead delegation that will discuss water delinquency By STEVE TAYLORThe Brownsville HeraldAUSTIN — South Texas lawmakers and farmers have called on Tony Garza, the new U.S. ambassador to Mexico, to threaten sanctions when he discusses the water treaty dispute in Mexico City next week.Garza, a former Cameron County judge, joins Secretary of State Colin Powell in a U.S. delegation for talks with Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretary Jorge Castañeda and other Mexican Cabinet members at a Binational Commission meeting Nov. 25-26.State Department spokesman Robert Zimmerman confirmed Tuesday that the long-running U.S.-Mexico...

AUSTIN — The United States could impose sanctions before the end of the year in retaliation for Mexico’s failure to honor a water treaty, a federal government official has confirmed.International Boundary and Water Commission Commissioner Carlos M. Ramirez told a state Senate border affairs committee hearing Thursday that he was not at liberty to discuss the State Department’s "plans," but did testify on halting the delivery of water to Mexico from the Colorado River."There are plans that will be put in motion against Mexico," Ramirez said after submitting four-pages of written testimony to the committee chaired by Brownsville state...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The Bush administration and Texas lawmakers on Wednesday called on Mexico to take steps to meet its debt of millions of gallons (liters) of water to Texas farmers. Wednesday marked the end of the latest five-year water accounting cycle and the deadline for repaying water owed under the 1944 U.S.-Mexico treaty, with which Mexico has failed to comply over the past 10 years. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, a Texas Democrat, said Mexico's lack of compliance and a years-long water shortage have devastated south Texas' agriculture, accounting for losses of more than $2 billion in...