Among the main problems facing Chiapas, it is noted that the next social struggle will be the lack of water for the countryside. Production organizations such as CIOAC, CNPA, and CNC, among others, are uniting to face the challenge and ensure access to this vital liquid in order to make their lands productive.
Undoubtedly, the south-southeast region accounts for 25% of the country’s water, and Chiapas has a theoretical availability of 10,000 m3 per inhabitant per year. However, according to the peasant organizations themselves, only 10% or less of this liquid can be used in agriculture due to a lack of infrastructure for its collection and distribution, which poses a growing challenge.
Chiapas is one of the states with the longest history of social resistance in Mexico. From the uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in 1994 to the recent mobilizations of peasants, indigenous people, teachers, and other sectors, it has been marked by the demand for the fulfillment of rights, justice, and better living conditions.
Organizations such as the Independent Central of Agricultural and Peasant Workers (CIOAC), the National Coordinator of the Ayala Plan (CNPA), the Cardenista Peasant Central (CCC), and the National Peasant Confederation, as well as the Peasant Torch (CNC), which previously fought for their lands, are now unable to make them productive due to the lack of water in Chiapas.
The organizations consulted explained that social struggle in Chiapas has a long history due to the neglect of the authorities. For years, they fought for the right to land, but now the peasant struggle for water is looming, and they are uniting and organizing to confront what is coming.
They recalled that in the 1990s, there were several examples of peasant struggles, and as a result, in 1992, the ejidos were given a legal and productive status to give them legal form and enable them to obtain the resources to make the lands productive.
Likewise, in 1994, when the armed uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) erupted, the lands had not been distributed, and some owned large estates. Therefore, through the peasant social struggle led by the Zapatistas, more than 240,000 hectares were distributed, which were regularized after they took up arms to march on Mexico City.
The organizations believe this was not the correct approach, but if they had not done so through the armed uprising, the Indigenous and peasant communities would not have received a response from the government.
They recalled that the International Day of Peasant Struggle was born on April 17, 1996, after the murder of a group of 19 peasants from the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST) by the Mexican military police.
They point out that the social struggle in Chiapas remains a central issue in the state’s life. Despite progress in some areas, structural problems affecting the population persist, and the struggle for water in the coming years could generate a very strong social and peasant struggle.
A struggle for water is coming
Water, like land, is the central axis of the peasant struggle and is the battle for life, since without water there is no life, and without land there is no production. Therefore, peasants are organizing for the upcoming struggle, said Eduardo Vázquez Méndez, Costa Sierra regional leader of the Independent Central of Agricultural Workers and Peasants (CIOAC).
“Today, the cry emerging from the countryside is no longer just for land, but for water, and the government’s incongruity is inviting beer and soft drink companies to move from the north to the south of the country because there is water here, which angers the peasantry. For this reason, they begin to react in times of conflict,” he said.
He added that today, the government itself is denying peasants the use of water. The time will come when there will be no water, hunger will ensue, and then another peasant struggle like that of the EZLN will emerge.
He stated that the fact that the government is currently granting permits to breweries and soft drink companies, and taking away this right from farmers, will provoke social conflict, since they have already run out of water in the north and are now coming south for this resource.
Jesús Gutiérrez, of the CNPA-MN, pointed out that the conflict over water is already a reality, as it is happening in the state of Chihuahua, where there have already been two deaths, injuries, and arrests.
“We have the land, but we can’t plant it. There isn’t enough water left for our families, especially during these six months of dry season and drought,” laments the social leader from Chiapas.
He indicated that it’s not that farmers or producers want to stop working; it’s that there is no longer any water to plant corn, beans, soybeans, or other crops. For this reason, they are leaving the countryside for the city to look for work or migrating to the north of the country and to the United States.
DROUGHT 3
He pointed out that “talking about food sovereignty today means talking about access to water, protecting rivers, springs, and the forests that protect them,” said a representative of the Independent Regional Peasant Movement (MOCRI).
He pointed out that the history of the country and of Chiapas has shown that when peasants, indigenous people, teachers, and society organize, they can change the course of Mexico, and this call for unity could be a way to fight for water if the authorities don’t do something ahead of time.
There is water, but it’s not being used
At the national level, the federal government believes that Chiapas has an abundance of water, but the reality faced by ejidatarios and producers in the state is completely different: the water exists, but it cannot be used, said Raúl Arroyo, president of the Emiliano Zapata Ejido Union.
Although it is estimated that the south-southeast region concentrates 100% of the total water, the water is available, but it cannot be used. 25% of the country’s water, and Chiapas has a theoretical availability of 10,000 cubic meters per inhabitant per year, only 10% or less of that water can actually be used; the rest is lost to runoff or due to the lack of infrastructure for its capture.
“They see us as a state rich in water, but here we are losing it. More than 90% of rainwater is lost because there are no water retention facilities,” said the representative of more than 20 ejidos (communal lands) from six municipalities.
He pointed out that in the countryside, this false perception of abundance has devastating effects. Crops like plantains, which require constant irrigation, face severe losses due to the lack of this vital liquid.
“The paradox is clear: it rains a lot in Chiapas, but the water doesn’t stay. Erosion, flooding, and a lack of planning aggravate the situation, as the lands are devastated and devastated,” he added.
He criticized the lack of projects under Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration over the next six years to capture and harness the water resources Chiapas has, but which are lost as quickly as they arrive during the rainy season.
He urged the federal government, and Sheinbaum Pardo, to correct the centralist vision that prioritizes mega-hydro projects in the north of the country and to include Chiapas in the water investment agenda.
He commented that, if nothing is done, the countryside will continue to face water shortages, which will translate into food shortages and social and peasant struggles due to hunger, because having water everywhere but not being able to use it is the current problem.
He pointed out that, during a meeting with the National Water Commission (Conagua), producers warned that Chiapas was excluded from the 13 strategic hydroelectric projects planned for the next six years, which deepens the water crisis already affecting the countryside.
Source: oem
