This incident marks another friction point between Mexico and Texas due to Governor Abbott’s anti-immigrant policies.
On Thursday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) accused the Texas National Guard of violating international law by shooting a Mexican man in the Rio Grande, the river shared by Mexico and the United States.
“It’s a violation of international law because you can’t shoot from the U.S. side to the other side of the river, which is already our territory,” he said.
The Mexican president referred to an incident that took place on Saturday on the bank of the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez, bordering the U.S. city of El Paso, where a National Guard member fired from U.S. territory into Mexico.
While it was initially mentioned that the victim was a migrant, local authorities identified the victim as Darwin Garcia, a 37-year-old man from Veracruz, who was on a dirt path used by runners and cyclists for exercise over 10 meters from the riverbed.
“Texas authorities argue that it was in defense of a migrant, that the injured person wanted to harm a migrant, and that’s why he fired into the air and then at the person,” said AMLO, announcing that the Mexican government has initiated an investigation into this incident.
On Wednesday, officials from the Mexican Consulate in El Paso met with representatives of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), expressing that the incident is “unacceptable” and voicing their concern about the impact on human rights and migrant safety.
“The injured person in Ciudad Juarez was fortunately discharged yesterday. However, there is an ongoing investigation, and the person who fired from the Texas Guard has been temporarily suspended from duty pending a full investigation,” AMLO stated.
This incident marks another friction point between Mexico and Texas due to Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s anti-immigrant policies.
On Aug. 3, AMLO labeled Abbott as “inhumane” following the deaths of two individuals in the Rio Grande, where Abbott had placed buoys and a wire fence to prevent migrant crossings.
The Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry has sent three diplomatic notes to Washington to lodge complaints about the buoys, alleging that they violate migrants’ human rights and international water treaties.
No idea what really happened, but whether the story as presented in this article is true or not. The fact remains that even IF a US National Guardsmen really was “defending” a migrant, he shouldn’t hav. That isn’t how national relations work, and even if he were Jesus and 100% morally correct (he wasn’t) he STILL shouldn’t have done that. As long as borders exist, your morality can’t extend beyond your country unless you are willing to accept the consequences of the most bad faith interpretations and outcomes.