Radio Mundo Real

Real World Radio interviewed Gustavo Castro of Otros Mundos-Friends of the Earth Mexico at the 10th meeting of the Movement Against Dams and for Rivers (MAPDER) held in Amatlan de los Reyes, Veracruz, Mexico from August 2 to 4. He said the fight against dams is not only against the State or the multilateral Banks but against transnational corporations which, thanks to law and constitutional reforms, are able to generate and control their own energy.

The tendency in the region is to exempt “small-scale” dams, “which are actually not that small”, so that the companies can supply energy for themselves, said Castro in interview with Real World Radio’s correspondent in Mexico, Monica Montalvo.

“This means privatizing rivers, water and also a conflict over land ownership and the territories of indigenous and peasant communities in the region”.

On Friday, before the meeting began, 30 year-old local leader Noe Vazquez Ortiz was murdered. MAPDER meeting was not cancelled, though, and they honored Vazquez’s memory.

Photo: www.mimundo-fotorreportajes.org