Interview by Frazer and Loren Frazer: Could you tell us who you are, a bit about the history of the social movement here in Zaachila and your role in the social movement? Manuel: I am an elementary school PE teacher from Zaachila. I am part of the people’s popular movement that began on July 7th, 2006 and continues to persevere here in Zaachila because of vast neighborhood support. The popular uprising in Zaachila began because of anger fermenting in the population toward the previous government. The former mayor of Zaachila was selling water permits to construct subdivisions all around the area, without asking permission of Zaachileños. They were also selling 25,000 liter tanks to other communities around the area for 3,000-4,000 pesos. This was really frustrating for the population because as they were selling this water during the dry season. So we had no water here while this company was selling all this water. NOTE: According to the national newspaper La Jornada one of the main complaints against the housing development company GEO lies in the Company’s manager Alejandro Noé Cruz Lopez who “has been accused of sexually molesting young municipal police officers, physically abusing farmers, and yielding death threats against the Popular Leader Manuel Gonzales Tomás and the wife of the popularly elected mayor. The young police officers of Zaachila brought their case against Cruz Lopes directly to the state court. But Governor Ulises Ruiz and ex-municipal president Jose Coronel Martinez gave him impunity.” According to the newspaper, “GEO acquired 12 hectares of land from Coca-Cola in order to dig 5 deep wells. Coca-Cola wanted to build a plant in Zaachila and do the same thing 10 years ago, but the population opposed the proposition. However, GEO went ahead and did the same thing and is now extracting water. They extract water from the area with huge trucks in the middle of the night and take the water to other developments around the capital and the central valley sell it privately… The people of Zaachila hate the housing development as much as the people buying the properties. The people took over the development and detained the company’s machines. This was because GEO did not finish its work and contaminated the local water with black water (sewage)…The people of Zaachila are in low-lands, and because Geo did not install any water treatment facilities, the sewage water from the development contaminates all of the water used for crops of the lower valley. The national commission of water refused to show locals the governmental paperwork that gave GEO the rights to extract water and exploit the land…The buyers also accuse Geo of cheating them out of their money…The real discontent with Geo lies within the people of Zaachila. Locals accuse GEO of stealing municipal water, contaminating the water the local farmers use for their crops, and they are planning to build a luxury housing zone which the people of Zaachila do not want.” (ENVIADO, HERMANN BELLINGHAUSEN. Cansados de abusos, en Zaachila instauran un gobierno popular. La Jornada. Aug 1, 2006.) Frazer: Are the people who live in these subdivisions rich? Manuel: No, Casa Geo, the company responsible for all of this, sells houses to the people of the middle class. They are people who have jobs in the government: teachers, health care workers or people who work in agriculture. They are people who make monthly payments for these houses out of their salaries, and it takes about 20 years to pay them off. They are houses that cost about 300,000 pesos ($30,000).

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