Megamining and the human right to water in Mexico

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between mega-mining and the human right to water in Mexico, based on its role in national development. From political ecology and ecological economics, it is pertinent to investigate the water commodification phenomenon in favor of the extractive industry and its repercussions on human life. The question here is: how does the attention process to the human right to water arise and manifest itself in the presence of mining megaprojects? It is argued that in Mexico, during the era of the neoliberal development model, preference has been given to supplying water to extractive megaprojects such as mega-mining, which has generated severe impacts on the ecosystem that have undermined the guaranteed human right to water. Preliminary results indicate that the mining industry in Mexico has become a primordial place for capital appreciation that gradually monopolizes surface and underground water sources, while State policy has contributed to violating the human right to water of one out of every ten Mexicans.