Mexicali Resiste Activist VS. Constellation Brands: Activists demand WATER RIGHTS and FREEDOM

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Water rights activists threatened with false legal accusations for protesting U.S. based multinational Alcohol Corporation, Constellation Brands

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Alcohol Justice

Jul 08, 2021, 15:25 ET

MEXICALI, Baja California, July 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mexicali Resiste, Water Rights Activists, will attend a court hearing for charges of "deprivation of liberty" of police and "dispossession" of the state building in connection with their involvement in protests against Constellation Brands in 2017. In 2017 the office of the State Attorney of Baja California determined that the current accusations did not deem criminal proceedings. However, the current congress of the state of Baja California has suddenly decided to reopen the case file and has scheduled a court hearing for July 8^th, rescinding the previous resolution and once again presenting accusations against the water rights activists for protesting against corporate corruption and injustice. This comes as no surprise after Leon Fierro, one of the activists was wrongfully accused in 2018 of "attempted murder" against police, for participating in a protest and 20 days later freed after it was determined that there was no proof.

Constellation Brands continues to threaten with privatizing local water in Baja California, Mexico, Mexicali Resiste fights back!

What: Court Hearing

When: Thursday, July 8^th, 2021, at 1 p.m.

Where: Unidad Judicial Calle Sur, Sala Fisica #7, colonia Bellavista in the city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico

Who: Mexicali Resiste

Why:

Since January 2017, Mexicali Resiste has opposed the plans by Constellation Brands, a U.S. based alcohol corporation, to build a billion-dollar brewery to use local water to make beer for American consumers in a region already experiencing severe water scarcity. Constellation Brands is expected to consume 20 million cubic meters of water annually from the Valley of Mexicali. This desert region has an over-exploited aquifer that is fed by the Colorado River with serious water shortages and serious drought issues in Tijuana, Tecate, Rosarito and Ensenada. In 2017 Mexicali Resiste's advocacy efforts halted legislative efforts to privatize water in Baja California. Then, in February 2020 the National Human Rights Commission released a report that determined that the process of the approval and installation of the Constellation Brands Brewery violates the human right to water, which would lead to the detriment of the population and farmers of the Valley of Mexicali. In 2020 the Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for a Consultation for the people of Mexicali to vote to determine the future of Constellation Brands continued operation which resulted in a NO vote, halting the operation of Constellation Brands, however the company still has not left Mexicali. The current Governor, Jaime Bonilla, former President of the Otay Water Board in San Diego, CA, has been known to continue support efforts to allow Constellation Brands to continue operating in Mexicali.