Hundreds of lakeshore inhabitants answered the call to stand up against the second line of the Chapala-Guadalajara aqueduct, flocking to the state capital Wednesday, January 25 for a speech, rally and protest march held in the heart of the city.
Despite plenty of harsh discourse against government authorities behind the new pipeline project, an almost festive air dominated the three and a half hour demonstration due largely to the intervention of lakeside area artists and cultural promoters.
Starting just after 10 a.m. at the Plaza de Armas, steps away from the Guadalajara Cathedral, the gathering drew an estimated crowd of 1,500 men, women and children from all walks of life. Most arrived in a fleet of buses that had set out from north shore communities earlier in the morning, among them fishermen, tourist boat operators, restaurants owners and their employees, housewives, students, environmentalists and even a few local politicians who remained discreetly out of the limelight.
Appearing in solidarity with the “Si al lago-No al Acueducto” citizen’s movement were native people from Temacapulin, whose historic home town will be inundated upon completion of the Zapotillo dam, activists from El Salto involved in campaigns to clean up the noxious Santiago River, and unionized employees of the metro area water authority Siapa fearful that the agency’s imminent restructuring will lead to privatization and prejudice to worker benefits.
Representatives of different sectors took turns stepping onto the bandstand to take the mike, speaking out against the second aqueduct line and railing against government leaders who back the project.
The most moving words came from Raul Oliva Solis, the young son of a Chapala fisherman who spoke on behalf of the next generation. Eloquently expressing the common plight of families who depend on the lake for their livelihoods and well-being, he called on water authorities to “tell us face to face that you have the power to risk our future,” challenging them to try trading their earnings for those of parents like his. “I can assure you that in no time you, too, would be defending Lake Chapala, he concluded.”
Once the talking ended, the throng raised their placards and their voices as they set off along Calle 16 de Septiembre for a 25-block march to Siapa headquarters. With a squad of motorcycle traffic police running interference at the forefront, the marchers were led by a group of young women dolled up in scanty costumes and body paint to represent the ancestral lake goddess Michicihualli and an entourage of water nymphs. Swaying to the rhythm of drumbeats thumped out by a platoon of Ajijic musicians as they advanced down the busy avenue, the ladies turned quite a few heads among passing motorists and pedestrians. Trailing behind them were a half dozen men hoisting a large cardboard sculpture fashioned in the form of a long tube with a monster’s head. The eye-catching figure bore the legend “Siapa, primero tapen sus fugas” (first plug up your leaks).
While an upbeat spirit prevailed most the way, the mood of the protestors turned angrier as they swarmed around the entrance to the offices of officials who hold the control to extract water from Lake Chapala and feed it to the city through the 42-kilometer pipeline originating at the pumping station near Santa Cruz de la Soledad.
Barred from entry, movement leaders Carlos Rosales, Hector España and Cristina Flores exchanged words with two Siapa officials who were sent to greet them at the door. Refusing the offer to allow a small party inside to meet with agency director Jose Luis Hernandez Amaya, they stood their ground until the head honcho arrived in person to face the multitude.
Hernandez listened politely to a lengthy tirade against the second aqueduct line and water authorities across the board, including specific gripes outlined more succinctly in the group’s written manifesto. A key point: with an accumulated a debt of 2,523,000,000 pesos and no transparency in accounting for its spending the agency lacks moral authority to demand more water from Lake Chapala.
“We are not against the lake supplying water to the metro area, we oppose seeing it over-exploited as the sole alternative,” Rosales declared. “Over the past 25 years, nothing has been accomplished to solve the metro area’s grave water problems, even as hundreds of millions of pesos have gone down the drain on projects that never came to fruition. Corruption is rampant at all levels of government.”
He then chastised the Siapa chief for reneging on the promise he made to aqueduct opponents when they descended on his offices last May. “You agreed to bring together lakeshore and metro area mayors and top water authorities in Chapala to address the issue in a public debate. We’re still waiting,” he exclaimed. He demanded an on-the-spot yes or no answer as to whether the project will proceed.
The restless protestors began shouting out epithets when Hernandez initially responded with the official reasoning for the new pipeline. Flores managed to quiet them down a bit with a reminder that the demonstration had been organized under a pledge of pacifism and mutual respect.
Hernandez went on to explain that the project is still only in the early planning stages and there is virtually no possibility construction work will get under way this year. He insisted operation of a second pipeline would not give Siapa free rein to draw more than the full allotment granted the National Water Commission, nor translate into major impact on Chapala’s water levels.
Taking that as a hint that the agency is unlikely to cave, Rosales warned that a radical fringe is in the wings ready to take more drastic action if the project is not cancelled.
With nothing left to say that might turn opinions on either side, Hernandez retreated to a quieter spot inside to field a few questions from the press, while demonstration leaders hung out at the doorway to do likewise.
The crowd of protestors gradually broke up, wearily heading towards the string of buses waiting to carry them home again. Despite the unbending official posture they had just heard, most left with some satisfaction for raising voices loud and clear in defense of their beloved lake.
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