Acts of repression and a Jalisco House surrounded by fences, police and riot control were the authorities' response to thousands of people from the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (ZMG) who took to the streets on Sunday, October 11, to join the Mega March for Clean Water, in which they demanded immediate action from state and municipal officials to address the contaminated water crisis that reaches hundreds of homes in the City.
Although the Governor of the State, Pablo Lemus, reportedly told ITESO students on October 8 that the rally would not be suppressed, the reality was different; with tear gas, water pipes and physical attacks, police forces sought to retract the demonstration, which until the cutoff at 8:30 p.m., reported 51 people arbitrarily arrested, as reported by the Mexican Institute for Community Development (IMDEC).
Through Urgent Action, the All Rights for All Network (TDT Network) denounced arbitrary arrests and possible acts of torture and harassment committed against the demonstrators. They thus indicated their concern about the risk that this represents for women who were arrested. They demanded from the Government of Jalisco an immediate and exhaustive investigation into the aggressions carried out against journalists during acts of police repression, as well as the identification of the material and intellectual responsible persons.
The march was called after the increase in the last week in citizen reports that indicated fetid odors, sediments, yellowing and dark discoloration in the supply of vital liquid that reached their homes by the Intermunicipal Water and Sewerage System (SIAPA).
The mobilization was joined by thousands of citizens of different ages who gathered from 11:00 a.m. around the Glorieta La Minerva; it was around 11:40 a.m., that they left for the official residence of the Governor of Jalisco.
As they passed by Avenida López Mateos, the attendees shouted slogans such as “Sir, madam, don't be indifferent, you also bathe with people's poop”, “Lemus idiot, water is a right”, “The conscious people join the contingent”.
Some also held up their cards that read the messages: “Without water there is no life!” , “Water is a right, not a privilege”, “Health alert now” and “Water is not privatized”, referring to the construction of the Chapala-Guadalajara Substitute aqueduct under a CMRO (Construction, Maintenance, Rehabilitation and Operation) funding scheme, as announced by Lemus.
Between March and June of this year, the IMDEC sampled 90 neighborhoods in Guadalajara, Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, Tonalá and Tlajomulco de Zúñiga. He concluded that the water distributed by SIAPA in the ZMG does not meet the minimum safety standards for human consumption because it contains lead, mercury, nitrates and nitrites —indicators of fecal contamination— above the levels established by NOM-127.
“I come to defend our essential rights, because that's not how we can live. I don't know anyone who lives without water and dirty water is not water to live with (...) we've gotten sick to our stomachs, there's sediment in the water, little animals come out, it's of very poor quality,” said Sara, a resident of the Circunvalación Belisario neighborhood in Guadalajara, who joined the claim with her family.
Perla, another of the demonstrators, also made her anger evident: “I am very tired of the situation in which we live and I had to do something about it (...) Lemus does nothing about it and the people had to mobilize (...) it gives me great pleasure to see so many people who came together, of so many different ages, and to see that we are all here supporting the common good,” said Perla, another of the demonstrators.
Shortly after noon, the people leading the contingent of the march arrived at Casa Jalisco. Upon arrival, they came across dozens of police officers who, in an attempt to close the passage, were making a human chain behind fences that were placed meters from the main entrance of the building.
Soon the attendees confronted the police forces for preventing their free movement and began to remove the fences; at the same time there were those who shouted slogans at them and asked them to show solidarity with the mobilization.
The response on the part of the authorities was the retreat of riot police who at around 1:10 p.m., began throwing tear gas and water jets at the contingent, forcing the demonstrators to disperse and take cover in nearby spaces.
“Lemus repressor”, “We want water, not repression”, “Clean water is not wasted” were the slogans chanted by the demonstrators after the attacks.
“I come here because, like many, my house has been affected with water that smells horrible (...) the march has been very peaceful, it's only at this specific point (Casa Jalisco) that the same people from Granada are starting to incite violence, but the whole journey has been very quiet,” said Renata, a protester who was retracted by tear gas.
The repression by the authorities lasted until 2:30 p.m., during which time arbitrary arrests were also recorded. Members of the Justice Center for Peace and Development (CEPAD) indicated that the people being held were taken to Casa Jalisco, some with injuries that had not been treated by medical personnel.
For its part, the CEDHJ noted that five of the people filed a complaint against members of the State Police for alleged acts of abuse of authority. This body also reported that it opened the report of investigation 41 through which the events that occurred will be followed up.
After the demonstration, human rights organizations and citizen groups made an urgent call to guarantee the physical integrity of detainees and to make immediate actions transparent to resolve a health emergency due to the lack of clean water.
Around 9:30pm, some demonstrators were reported to have been released, including defender Verónica Correa and artist Alejandra Rivas, who narrated through a live broadcast the attacks they suffered during their arrests.
The Mexican Institute for Community Development (IMDEC), the Justice Center for Peace and Development (CEPAD), the Network against Forced Disappearances and other organizations, human rights defenders in Jalisco and Mexico remain vigilant, accompanying the legal processes of those who remain in detention and those who have already been released.
This article was originally published by ZonaDocs: “We want water, not repression”: March for clean water in the ZMG ends with 51 arbitrary arrests
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