Coca Cola Chiapas dry wells in exchange for $ 150 per year

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In May, the UN denounced the situation of lack of access to water of poor households and indigenous communities of Chiapas. 

Coca Cola plant absorbs million liters per day in exchange for a minimum compensation established in the 90s. 

By El Salto .

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Journalist  Martha Pskowski  published in the American web  Truth Out  an extensive report on the ground that  Coca Cola  has among the Chiapas towns of  San Felipe and San Cristobal. 

The installation consumes more than one million liters of water a day,  which is having an impact on the supply of the population.

According to the report, the shortage is forcing the population of  San Felipe Ecatepec  to walk up to two hours to get the water needed for day to day.

Coca Cola plant,  managed by the company  FEMSA , manufactures 5% of brand products distributed in Mexico . 

How all those liters of soda occur? 

The solution is in the mountains, in particular under the mount Huitepec, where Coke obtains water. The problem has been made visible when the subsoil of the Chiapas Valley has not given more of himself to provide water to the two cities and has been exacerbated by droughts caused by climate change.

A lack of supply and unsafe water adds another fundamental aspect is that the exploitation by the most famous brand in the world does not have the economic benefits that can be expected. 

According to the report  Right to Drinking Water and Sanitation published in May this year,  Coca Cola paid less than 150 euros each year  for each of the  40 permits that have force in Mexico, many of them obtained for periods of 50 years. 

The company achieved in 2015 562 million 8.000 million profit and revenue.

Coca Cola input  within Mexican waters occurred in  1992,  during the government of  Carlos Salinas de Gortari, using a  Mining Act to encourage exploration, extraction and processing of minerals. 

Chiapas plant was installed two years later. 

In 2000, a former employee of  Femsa Coca-Cola, Vicente Foxbecame president of  Mexico.

Health and diabetes

One of every three families in Chiapas have no running water, and its composition is suspected of creating and playing diseases. 

The most important,  salmonella  caused by the concentration of pathogenic bacteria in the water. 

Although the Mexican government is obliged to provide access to drinking water for the entire population, official data show that each household buys more than 1,500 liters of bottled water each year.

The situation in Chiapas  drew the attention of the  UN,  which this year denounced the situation of shortage of populations living in poverty and indigenous peoples of Chiapas. 

The paradox, according to the report, is that the typical pozol-a fermented drink of the area- and soft drinks are cheaper and easier to get to the most deprived communities. 

In parallel, the mass consumption of carbonated drinks has made increasing cases of diabetes and childhood obesity.

The mining law  that allowed  Coca Cola  access to aquifers for their production is not exclusive to  Mexico. 

In 2009, Diagonal  denounced the pillaging of springs in  Segovia for use by the bottler  Bezoya. 

In  Central America, Coca Cola  has also been denounced by the exploitation of the aquifer  Nejapa  (El Salvador). 

Water accumulation is a constant in the era of globalization and despite the lack most affects irrigated crops and access to "mouth water" or water for hygiene. 

Coca Cola  and its rival  Pepsico and Nestle  have staged episodes reported by  NGOs  as the conflicts in  Kerala and Varanasi  (India).