Mexican aid lags for starving Tarahumara Indians

GUACHOCHI, Mexico — It's been months since Maria Luisa Gonzalez and her husband have been able to harvest anything from their drought-parched land or catch fish in a lake that's become little more than a muddy puddle.

Like other Tarahumara Indians suffering from severe drought in Mexico's vast northern canyons, Gonzalez said she had yet to receive any aid last week, nearly two months after President Felipe Calderon said that he had assessed the drought's damage and his government was tending to the crisis.

The federal Interior Department declared a state of emergency in 37 Sierra Madre municipalities in the Tarahumara region on Jan. 3.

The first major batch of federal help showed up Thursday with great media fanfare, including Calderon and First Lady Margarita Zavala loading a navy plane with boxes of groceries on a rural landing strip in Chihuahua state, where the Tarahumara live in the crannies of a natural wonder that dwarfs the Grand Canyon.

"I want to emphasize the Sierra Tarahumara is a top priority in my administration," Calderon said in a press conference, adding that the navy was delivering 119 tons of food.

Gonzalez, however, said such promises have been empty since their October crops yielded no corn potatoes or beans.

"We hadn't received anything," the 67-year-old said. "If this continues, we will starve to death because what are we going to eat? It's dry. The lake is dry."

Calderon first said Dec. 1 that his government was on top of the crisis, caused by the worst drought to hit northern Mexico in 70 years. A trip to the region late last by The Associated Press showed families picking up private donations but nothing from the government. Even Chihuahua officials say the response has been slow.

"They took a long time," said Jesus Velasquez, coordinator of a program delivering state resources to the Tarahumara. He also coordinates the food relief efforts with the navy and private groups. "There wasn't a federal program until now, until the president came. We still need to know how much," he said,

The federal government issued a statement Saturday responding to AP questions showing Calderon delivering food and blankets on Nov. 30. "The support has intensified since January, incorporating the army and the navy," the statement said.