Water Schaarste 2

Common Dreams bericht: 'World Water Forum: Activists Pledge to Fight for Their Water. Water is so scarce or polluted in some parts of the world that the poor might actually go to war to get their hands on it, activists at a protest summit held in conjunction with the fourth World Water Forum here said. That attitude might appear over the top in most developed nations, where water flows freely. But it isn't nearly as accessible in the developing world. The World Water Forum has brought representatives of 130 nations to discuss water management around the globe. They have pledged to focus on the world's poor, many of whom live on less than 2 1/2 gallons of water per day — one-thirtieth of the daily usage in some developed nations. But those protesting at an alternative summit, also being held in Mexico City, say the official forum is little more than a cover for big corporations interested in selling bottled water and running water systems for profit. Maria Cruz de Paz, a Mazahua Indian, told the alternative meeting that water wars are not merely an apocalyptic vision of the future. She said she carried a rifle — albeit a mock wooden one — in angry 2004 protests that temporarily shut off part of Mexico City's water supply. "Our wooden rifles are symbolic. They are symbols of the fact that we can still head off a war over water, there is still time to solve things through dialogue and compromise," Cruz de Paz told the alternative meeting. The Mazahuas were angered "because pipes carrying water to the city cross our land ... but we didn't have a drop to drink." Others tell of similar struggles over a liquid most people take for granted. "We've been beaten, we've been jailed, some of us have even been killed, but we're not going to give up," said Marco Suastegui, who marched alongside about 10,000 protesters Thursday outside a convention center where the World Water Forum is being held. Suastegui is leading the battle against a dam being built to supply water for the Pacific coastal resort of Acapulco. Opponents fear the dam will dry up the nearby Papagayo River. "We will defend the water of the Papagayo river with our lives, if need be," Suastegui said.' Lees verder: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0318-06.htm