Access to water, an element essential to all life, is a basic human right. Intuitively obvious, this fact has also been enshrined in international law committing signatory nations to ensure their citizens access to clean water, "equitably and without discrimination." Many have failed in this commitment. As this NACLA Report details, an intolerably large number of poor Latin Americans are denied their essential right to water.
The Report authors concur that the region's water crisis is partly the culmination of historical malpractice, and that enduring social disparities are responsible for the highly inequitable patterns of water access in the region. Clearly, better management and a new, sustainable culture of use are needed. Even more vital, however, are the ongoing efforts of Latin Americans who are challenging underlying structural inequalities as well as the values and institutions that commodify the fundamentals of life. These are struggles that ultimately concern us all.