From LASC magazine, March 2007.
by Ramor Ryan
10 years ago the barrio where I live was a swamp on the outskirts of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, populated by a herd of scrawny cows. Migrants and refugees from the countryside arrived on mass – like any rapidly urbanizing centre in the 3rd World - and now it’s a teeming barrio of cement, home to thousands of mostly indigenous families. Prosperity has come to some: a few cars in the street, some fancy houses, and progress to all in the form of electricity, TV cable and internet. But nevertheless, despite this small prosperity there is one vital element consistently lacking in the peoples’ lives: water. Sometimes it comes for an hour a day; sometimes it doesn’t come all week.
Why is there no water? The tropical state of Chiapas is known as Mexico’s water bank, with the greatest mean average rain fall annually. Its huge dammed rivers exports hydroelectric power to other states.
“The water crisis is a result of the way it is consumed,” explains local water activist Cacho, part of the strong barrio anti-privatisation movement. “The problem is the excessive consumption of water and the unequal access among the different sectors of the population. There is no water rationing or shortage for the business and tourist centre of town.”
Currently, the local municipal government controls the water supply.
“And the local water authorities are running down the service in the barrios in order to open the way for privatisation,” explains Cacho. “Meanwhile they are selling off concessions to private interests to exploit the water”
In the ultimate irony, Coca Cola ‘won’ a concession to build a factory on top of San Cristobal’s aquifer. Exploiting the water resources at a monthly rate of 3.5 million litres, Coca Cola pays the municipality a measly $500 annually. (Incidentally, the director of the National Water Commission, Senor Jactes, was ex-director of Coca Cola.)
And its becomes clear from the abundant litter strewn around this poor barrio – predominantly plastic soda and water bottles – that the water is directly being taken from the aquifer, bottled, and sold to the people at a profit for Coca Cola.
At base, the struggle over the water is a clash of two visions: those who see it as an economic good to be sold on the market to the highest bidder, and those who view it as part of the common good, to be distributed equally amongst the people who use it.
The campaign against privatisation in Chiapas is gaining ground, led by the example of the Zapatista and other indigenous communities to hold the water resources as part of the community patrimony. “In the most democratic way the people have said the water is public property”, says writer Eduardo Galeano. “And this is a way of saying to the owners of the world, the gentlemen of the market- we are not for sale!”
