Over the last century or so, the rulers in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas divvied up the water from the Colorado and Rio Grande rivers. Water that used to flow through Mexico into the gulfs on either side were replaced with dry river beds in one case and a completely changed shadow of its former self in the other.
This theft from downstream neighbors would have resulted in outright war among equals or near-equals. After a couple of losses to a young USA, Mexico was in no position for a military contest to a much bigger and more belligerent neighbor.
So they let the matter die…. or did they?
I’m wondering if the Mexicans cooked up a long-term plan to restore their water rights.
First step is to emigrate to the seat of the water basin’s political power until they become a political majority. Since it is hard for Mexicans to outnumber Anglos in the region, they will have to culturally embrace all South and Central Americans, also facilitating their relocations into the region.
They have to retain a separate cultural identity via language, family loyalties, religion and other attributes to avoid being assimilated. Of course they will be facilitated in this by Ugly Americans who are happy to project “my way or the highway” to people with differences and exclude those little brown-skinned suckers from their society.
The next step ought to be fun to watch (from up north, anyway). Will they vote the water rights back, move the border north to include the river basins, make Spanish the only allowed language in the region or something else?