The fifth National Assembly for Water, Life and Territory concludes

From the Editorial Staff

The newspaper La Jornada
Monday, August 19, 2024, p. 12

With a declaration against the megaprojects that have represented the dispossession and displacement of the peoples and what they consider The neoliberal nightmare that spread in this government hand in hand with militarization and organized crimeThe fifth National Assembly for Water, Life and Territory concluded yesterday. It was held outside the headquarters of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, with the participation of 200 delegates from the National Indigenous Congress.

There it was reported that the building will continue to be occupied by the Otomi community living in Mexico City. The attendees raised long-standing demands, starting with the demand for justice in the murder of Samir Flores, which occurred in February 2019, just a few months after the start of the current administration.

Without directly mentioning President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, they questioned the projects he carried out: the Morelos comprehensive project, the Isthmus Interoceanic Train, the Maya Train and the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, among others.

They indicated that the Puebla Panama Plan, later called the Mesoamerica Project, changed in the current government to others that carry the surname Bienestar and hide the dispossession, displacement, destruction and death of the communities.

During the two-day assembly, organizations and representatives of communities from several states of the Republic participated, where events have been recorded that violate the human rights of their inhabitants for the benefit of mining, brewing and other companies.

They highlighted that The fight for water, life and territories must continue as long as those who govern do so for those above and they claimed that old struggles have been joined by others that have arisen during this six-year term. Fighting for life is fighting against capitalism because Having a roof is a right.

Regarding businesses that abuse the exploitation of water, they warned It’s not drought, it’s plundering.

They also pointed out that the dispossessions of which they have been victims will continue with the second floor of the Fourth TransformationIn the statement, the participants stated that it is a second floor built on top of those below.

In a first message at the end of the assembly, they warned about the risk of division in the communities, caused by the government offering money and It tries to break from within, because only by dividing can it impose death and destruction..

The task, the participants agreed, is weave ourselves into a community, as brothers, as children who belong to the great mother EarthThe declaration highlighted the people’s conviction that In the face of death we decide to live, that’s why we organize ourselves.

Among future actions, the fifth assembly announced its participation in the National Indigenous Congress, which will be held from October 10 to 12 against megaprojects and gas pipelines, as well as on September 26, the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of the Ayotzinapa teacher training students.