Trouble brewing: Maya people in Yucatán fear new Heineken plant's thirst for water

Indigenous groups in Mexico opposed to the planned brewery say families already have little access to water - and that their way of life is also under threatOn a summer evening in southern Mexico, a percussion group using water bottles as instruments leads a procession through Mérida, capital of Yucatán state. Children walking alongside elderly people are guided by members of Múuch' Xíinbal, a Maya land rights organisation. The placards they carry declare: "Water is not for sale." A heavy chant accompanies the march: "It's not a drought - it's plunder!"At a rallying point in the city, protesters read from a manifesto and accuse the government of prioritising profit over water, health and land. They denounce a wave of mega-projects imposed without their consent, from industrial-scale pig farms to the controversial Maya Train tourist expansion. But they reserve their greatest anger for the Heineken brewery in Kanasín, near Mérida, which was announced in June. Continue reading...