Solidarity with #FueraBonafont
What is it about?
In Puebla, Mexico, residents and communities of the Nahua indigenous group shut down a water bottling facility a year ago. Bonafont, a DANONE brand, had been extracting water there for 29 years, causing rivers, springs and wells to dry up.
Thanks to this halt of production the water table rose again and local residents were better able to farm.
In August, they occupied the factory and renamed it Altepelmecalli, the Peoples’ House. From there, they have built self-managed projects in health, agriculture, communications, women’s organizing, and justice.
The squatters are declared opponents of a capitalist, patriarchal and colonial system.
On February 15, 2022, Mexican police stormed the building during the night, evicted all new residents and destroyed the community center. Now Altepelmecalli is sealed off and guarded by a private security company. It is possible that preparations are already underway to resume water extraction.
What can we do?
The people of Puebla had recently sent a message of solidarity to Lützerath to show us that we are not alone. They gave us hope and said that we can only win the fight against capitalism together. Now our solidarity is needed.
- With soli photos and social media posts we can show that we are watching, and that they are not alone. Locally, Facebook will probably be used most of all.
- With actions we can build pressure on the Mexican government and DANONE
- On the one hand, demos and actions can be carried out in front of Mexican embassies and consulates.
- On the other hand, DANONE, as a multinational corporation, also has several offices in Germany
Attack DANONE
Danone includes brands such as Actimel, FruchtZwerge, Evian, and Volvic. In 2020, the multinational group made a turnover of 23.6 billion euros.
In Germany, Danone is based in Frankfurt, and close to Haar near Munich and has plants in Ochsenfurth close to Würzburg, Fulda and Erlangen. The group’s products can be found in every supermarket.
You can organize demonstrations, blockades, or creative actions for the press or passers-by.
DANONE is also very interested in building a green and social image with vegan brands like Alpro and needs credibility in the Global North, i.e. with us.
Why should we as Climate Justice Movement take action?
- Climate justice means solidarity with struggles in the Global South and with anti-colonial struggles. Here, we have been asked for solidarity in concrete terms and there are clear possibilities for action.
- The local people have not only managed to end extractivism, but are also organizing themselves in an inspiring way. They had invited international groups to the occupied factory and wanted to enable activists to connect struggles and learn from their self-organization.
- DANONE is a strong example of how green-painted capitalism is also neocolonial and destroys the environment. In Europe, there are fancy vegan products with green designs. In Mexico, so much water is ruthlessly stolen that small farmers can no longer secure their food.
- Mexico is very vulnerable to upcoming climate catastrophes. Depriving people living off agriculture of large amounts of water will greatly exacerbate the effects. The struggle for water access is a relevant climate issue in a world that has already warmed by 1.2 degrees.
