A new report based on internal documents concludes that Canadian diplomats in Mexico were complicit in Toronto-based Excellon Resources Inc.’s efforts to avoid redressing a violated land use contract and poor working conditions, and supported repression against a peaceful protest.
The masked representative of San Sebastián Bachajón, Chiapas, described how residents of this Tzeltal indigenous community reclaimed the entrance to the Aguas Azules waterfalls on Dec. 21, 2014. Although the government once again controls the Aguas Azules tollbooth, the resolve of the movement for local autonomy has not flagged after more than seven years of struggle.
NOTE: This article is the thirteenth in a series by the CIP TransBorder Project that examines the water crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. “Lo metrosexuales nos […]
NOTE: This article is the twelfth in a series by the CIP TransBorder Project that examines the water crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. “I think […]
Sonora like its neighboring states on either side of the international border is caught in a deepening water crisis — one that is largely its own making but now made ever more grim by the onslaught of climate change with its more extreme weather, prolonged droughts, and rising temperatures.
Grupo México is a major player in this crisis because of massive consumption of water. The virtual absence until recently of public, media, and governmental scrutiny of Grupo México’s water-use and environmental practices is a testament to the company’s privileged status in Mexico and especially in Sonora.
The three richest men in Mexico – Carlos Slim Helú, Alberto Bailléres González, and Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco — are also the owners of Mexico’s top three mining corporations.
The Mexican government is making modern mining dreams come true. Nonexistent or unenforced regulations –whether regarding occupational safety, environmental degradation, water extraction, and control of hazardous wastes – make Mexico one of the world’s most profitable countries for the mining industry. Government agencies – both federal and state – that have authority over the mining industry serve as mining boosters rather than as regulators.
Like other states in the Transborder West, population growth and economic development and modernization are products of hydraulic manipulations. Damming, diverting, and drilling have turned the Sonoran Desert – which covers nearly 40% of the state — into a green belt for agribusiness and the state’s urban core.
The question facing Sonora and most other states on both sides of the international border across the TransBorder West is whether governments and inhabitants are willing to accept the expense and impact of sustaining their hydraulic societies. Whether the benefits of new water megaprojects outweigh the costs?
Sonora’s hydraulic society is a divided one. The water for the desert cities and agribusiness of the New Sonora comes largely from the rivers of the Old Sonora. The damming, draining, and diversion of the state’s rivers has sustained the population and economy of western Sonora.
