El Salvador Water Warriors Fight Corporate Greed to Win Rights
El Salvador Water Warriors Fight Corporate Greed to Win Rights
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Salvadoran children drink water from a pipe, March 20, 2013. | Photo: AFP
Published 13 May 2016
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El Salvador faces a water scarcity emergency, and yet proposals by water rights defenders have been blocked for years by corporate interests.
The fight to protect the right to water in El Salvador, the most water-stressed country in Central America, has been a long and uphill battle as social movements and progressive politicians run up against powerful corporate interests over whether water resources are public or private goods.
But with a national water scarcity emergency declared last month, the crisis has reached a tipping point. Water rights advocates are ramping up their already years-long struggle to enshrine the human right to water in El Salvador's constitution and force corporations to play their part in protecting the environment and conserving water for future generations.
Yet, it remains to be seen whether conservative factions in Congress will ease up on their staunch support for private interests and allow key proposals to move forward.
“Our demand is that water be recognized as a constitutional right,” Jose Maria Argueta, a member of El Salvador’s Foro del Agua coalition of environmental and human rights groups fighting for water rights, told teleSUR by phone. “Currently, there is no entity charged with ensuring the right to water for communities and society in general.”
More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/El-Salvador-Water-Warriors-Fight-Corporate-Greed-to-Win-Rights-20160513-0025.html
