Water

From ZNet

Monday, April 19, 2010

[Message of the author of the Open Veins of Latin America to participants of the First World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba from April 19 to 22, as an alternative to the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit]

Sadly, I will not be able to be with you. Hopefully, all that is possible, and also the impossible, will be done so that the Summit of the Mother Earth becomes the first phase towards the collective expression of people who do not direct world polices, but suffer from them.

Hopefully, we will be able to carry forward the two initiatives of companion Evo (Morales, President of Bolivia)— the Climate Justice Tribunal and the World Referendum against a system of power founded on war and on waste, which scorns human life and auctions our worldly goods.

A Message of Solidarity from Polaris Institute Director Tony Clarke to la Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y de la Vida & la Asociación de Sistemas Comunitarios de Agua del Sur Spanish translation below

I want to express my deep gratitude and appreciation for your invitation to participate in the 10th anniversary celebration of what many of us have come to call the ‘Battle of Cochabamba.’ I truly wish I could be with you and share in this historic moment. After all, the Battle of Cochabamba turned out to be the first water war of the 21st century and is now an enduring symbol of the struggle and movement for water justice around the world.

For more information on the Story of Bottled Water visit: www.storyofbottledwater.org