The ancestral home of the indigenous Yaqui People is the valley of the Yaqui River, in the state of Sonora in northern Mexico, and the river is their ancestral source of water for drinking, irrigation, and ceremonial purposes. In 2010 the governor of Sonora, Guillermo Padres Elias, announced the construction of the “Independence Aqueduct”, which would extract 75 million cubic metres of water per year from the Yaqui River and carry it 108 miles to the Sonoran capital city of Hermosillo. It is estimated that forty percent of the drinking water in Hermosillo is currently wasted, and the water is destined for industries with high water demands, such as the recently installed Heineken, Ford and Big Cola plants. The Yaqui people see themselves as the stewards and guardians of the river, but they were not consulted about this project, in clear violation of their rights to free, prior and informed consent, as well as their rights to autonomy and self-determination as indigenous peoples - all laid out in treaties and conventions signed by the Mexican government.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 07:27:47 +0000
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