TO San Cristóbal de las Casasa city located in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, the presence of Coca Cola it is omnipresent, with its red and white logo visible everywhere. However, all this intersects with one controversy linked to access to watera crucial problem for the local community.
San Cristóbal is home to a bottling plant operated by Femsa, a multinational company that bottles Coca-Cola in much of Latin America. Every day the plant extracts more than 1.14 million liters of water from the Huitepec volcano basin.
This massive water consumption has contributed to a serious water crisisdespite Chiapas being one of the regions with the most water resources in Mexico. Paradoxically, many rural communities in the region do not have access to running water.
You have to face weeks without water
Climate change and the growing demand for water from multinationals are worsening the situation. It is expected that by 2050, 20 of the 32 states of Mexico will face a water shortage. Some cities, such as Mexico City, risk reaching “day zero”or the complete absence of water from the taps.
The local community of San Cristóbal is in a critical situation, with frequent interruptions to the water supply. Some residents they face weeks without waterforcing them to travel long distances to collect water for daily needs. Even those living in the city center suffer from this crisis, receiving water only for a few hours every two days.
There poor quality of tap wateroften contaminated, forces many people to resort to bottled water or consume carbonated drinks, creating a vicious circle of dependence on these drinks. Coca-Cola consumption in Chiapas is one of the highest in the worldwith an average of almost 684 liters per year per person.
Despite the controversies, Coca-Cola and other multinationals continue to extract large quantities of waterto. Water concessions to these companies are often criticized for being too favorable, with permit costs paltry compared to the profits generated. And meanwhile, local communities, like San Cristóbal, struggle for access to water, a resource that is essential for daily life but is diminished to make room for profit.
