Protesters in the northwest Mexican state of Sonora are blocking the country’s largest mining company, Grupo México, from withdrawing water, in an ongoing standoff against the company and state police. Since June 2, residents of Bacoachi, a rural town 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the U.S. border, have protested in shifts along Evans Canyon Road between the town’s thoroughfare and the Bacoachi River, a tributary of Sonora River. The blockade, which locals insist has remained nonviolent, was broken up once in July before being reinstated the following day. Only water trucks with Grupo México logos are being stopped, protesters say, while other vehicles pass through. Grupo México owns several concessions to extract water in the region to operate a copper mine an hour’s drive north of Bacoachi. But locals accuse the company of overexploiting the watershed during a period of drought, jeopardizing livelihoods in a region that depends on farms and ranches. For several years, the company has faced allegations of wider human rights violations in the region following an infamous waste spill in 2014. Residents of Bacoachi, a rural town 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the U.S. border, protest against Grupo México and what they say is abusive water extraction. Image courtesy of Fernando Ramírez. “The people never got involved with Grupo México; Grupo México got involved with us by trying to take our water,” said Fernando Ramírez, a former agricultural engineer with the government’s agriculture and rural development department, who now works as a consultant and…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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