BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Saying no to the river buoys, a group of human rights activists met on the banks of the Rio Grande to denounce a government plan to install the orange devices in the middle of the river.
They claimed the floating tubular-shaped things will divide the sister cities of Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and will dissect the Rio Bravo into two streams with hardly any flow years from now.
The group met Thursday, Feb. 26, at Alice Wilson Hope Park, a small place just a little more than a stone’s throw away from the Mexican side of the river, as the marching drums from school bands resounded two blocks away.
The schools were participating in the Charro Days Children’s Parade down Elizabeth Street.
The group represented about a dozen organizations from throughout the Rio Grande Valley all the way to El Paso and Eagle Pass.
Each of them denounced the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to install the buoys they claimed will eventually be placed along the 500 miles river stretch from here to the Texas-New Mexico line.
Juan Mancias, a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo, or descendants of the Coahuiltecan people who inhabited this region of the country, said the land they have known for years is being destroyed by corporate greed and government intrusion.
“Everything the river touches is life,” he said. “A lot of these trees you see around here are native. Everything is connected.”
But today, Mancias added, companies like Rio Grande LNG and SpaceX are taking over the land.
He was referring to the multi-billion projects going on Texas Highways 48 and 4 where one company is building a liquefied natural gas export terminal and the other a rocket launcher.
Amekica Garcia, founder of Frontera Federation, said the promises made in 1932 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt are disappearing today.
“All those freedoms made are being wiped by the love of money,” she said. “We should be demanding that our money go to the people and not to private contractors and to buoys.”
Jesse Fuentes, an Eagle Pass resident who owns a kayak rental company there, said the damages the buoys will cause to the river’s natural flow are unimaginable.
“They installed 1,000 linear feet of buoys on the river there and are planning to install another 1,000 feet,” he said. “These buoys are going to split the river into two channels.”
Thursday’s meeting took place just days after Cameron County Commissioners Court approved a resolution opposing the installation of the buoys – an action the group applauded during the meeting attended by about 40 people.
Nicole Logan and Karla Lopez, two students attending UT-Rio Grande Valley, said they showed up to express solidarity with the group.
“We have a rich land and a rich culture,” Logan said. “I believe it’s good to have something like this today and people should know about it.”
