On March 14^th, the Seventh Annual International Day against Dams and for Rivers, Water and Life will take place.  This movement began in 1997 when the First International Conference of People Affected by Dams was held in Curitiba, Brazil.  The Second conference was held in Thailand in December 2003 where more than 300 participants from more than 62 countries of the world made a new call for the commemoration of the seventh international mobilization.  Now a call is being made to unite in solidarity to “protest the construction of destructive development projects and to celebrate the positive achievements of the past year.  Also, this is a moment to struggle for social justice and the rights of communities over their resources and their lives.”

This year the world anti-dam movements will mark with special attention the 60^th anniversary of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  To this end, a call was made for actions and protests to include the World Bank, as it has been one of the principle financiers of large destructive dams throughout the world.  A call was also made to work together to promote more equitable and sustainable ways to manage water resources.

Last year on March 14^th, thousands of people blocked traffic to protest damages to the rivers.  Others climbed high summits with the goal of stopping dam construction; educational tours along rivers were organized and ceremonies for the sacred water were conducted, among other actions.  All of this was part of the annual force to protect living rivers world-wide.  The International Rivers Network (IRN), with headquarters in California, U.S.A., has monitored the movements being carried out throughout the world (www.irn.org/dayofaction/).  “Last year activists defending the rivers in South Africa celebrated the International Day in the Edith Stephens Wetlands Park.  The organization “Recreality Holisticultural” celebrated with presentations by special guests, music of the land, poets, marimba and DJs.  In Spain, the Aragon River Association, part of COAGRET-EBRO VIVO, planned the scaling of the Pirineo Mountains to celebrate the International Day of Action.  At the convergence of the Zaragoza River and the Ebro River, a declaration was read in honour of rivers, water and life.  Activists were dressed up as zebra mussels positioned to defend these animals and the rights of rivers.”

In Brazil, a protest was held against the planned dams for the Xingu River.  The Working Women of Altamira Movement and other river activists protested the building of the Belo Monte dam and the other four dams planned by Electronorte, the state electricity company.  In the United States, a New Orleans style funeral procession was held to commemorate rivers.  Friends of the rivers and the IRN celebrated the removal of dams and the rebirth of rivers, water and life with a procession in Auburn.  The event celebrated a recent decision to close the diversion tunnel, the first step to putting the Auburn dam into the coffin.  Later, presentations were made and there was music by Mumbo Gumbo.  In Mexico, in the state of Chiapas, communities and organizations positioned signs against dams for the first time at many points along the highways of the state.  And other countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America also hosted movements last March 14^th, 2003.

On the aforementioned website there will once again be information about the upcoming movements against dams for March 14^th, 2004.  A call is also being made to communities, organizations, fronts, and networks to inform the site of their activities and to send photos to be shared with other struggles in diverse parts of the world.

According to the participants of the Second International Conference of People Affected by Dams that was carried out in Thailand last December, in the twelve countries that make up Eastern Asia, it is calculated that more than 42 dams are planned for the region up to the year 2020.  China is the country with the largest number of dams and with the greatest number of people – millions and millions – displaced from their places of origin.  The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japanese Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) and the World Bank, as well as the big Japanese, Chinese, European and American transnational businesses, are the main promoters of these large dams.  For their part, the participants from South Asia (India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Butan) made reference to the effects on 27 large rivers due to dams and the new mega-projects which threaten the region.  In both regions, emphasis was put on the process of privatizing water.  Although there haven’t yet been deactivations of dams, nor have governments fulfilled their promises of compensation, the struggles and the organizing networks and the campaigns against the WB and dams are increasing.  A similar panorama was presented by the participants from Africa, where popular anti-dam movements are increasing, as is opposition to the WB, which has encouraged and financed the dams.

The participants from South America presented information about the 490 dam projects in the region.  Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Argentina are among the countries most affected and where the popular anti-dam movement is prominent and where they have already managed to detain the construction of some dams.  The Anti-dam Movement of Brazil (MAB) is one of the largest in the world.   That is where the process of organizing world-wide networks against dams began.  For their part, participants from Meso-America who recently came together in a Meso-American Forum against Dams under the framework of struggling against the Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP), presented a grave picture in which the electrical interconnections of the region are accelerating the privatization of the electricity sector and with it, increasing the prices paid for electrical energy.  Here, companies such as Union Fenosa, Iberdrola, Endesa, Portugal Electricity, Coastal Corporation, Hydro-Quebec International, AES, Duke Energy International, Teco Power Service, among others, have bought up the electricity market with the help of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).  From Mexico to Panama, it is calculated that there are more than 70 dam and water privatization projects coming up.  In the case of Honduras, the privatization of a river conceded to transnational companies has already been registered.  Nonetheless, popular anti-dam conscience and movements are growing even though the people threatened by these mega-projects must go against the stream (in Chiapas the bishop of San Cristobal de Las Casas exposed the lies behind the plans for dam constructions in Chiapas).

Another desolate picture was the situation in Europe.  The participants at the Second Conference made mention of how 95% of the watersheds in Europe have been affected, among them at least 50 major watersheds had been seriously affected by large dams.  Natural rivers no longer exist in Europe.  More than 4 000 dams – of which at least 500 are in Spain – cover the lands of the region which are now old and worn out.  Still, Spain’s Hydroelectric Plan is considering the creation of 120 dams for the upcoming years.  In France, there are plans for more than 2 000 micro-hydroelectric systems, in Germany the number is 4 000.

In North America the peak of large dam construction was during the 1930s and 1950s.  Many of the dams are now old and with the environmental movement against them, between 200 and 300 dams were deactivated during the 1980s.  At least 120 have disappeared.  The American strategy now is to obtain energy from the south – from Mexico – and at the same time connect to the electrical system of Central America, extracting it under the PPP framework.  And it’s not just connecting to the networks but improving the infrastructure with public funds and putting the nations of the region in debt, and later taking over the system and its sources of energy (water, gas, coal, heating) through the process of privatization.

From the 1930s-1970s, the construction of large dams was done mainly in wealthy countries whose industrialization required large quantities of energy.  Now the dams of the North are heading toward the South insofar as large monoculture plantations are possible in poor countries and these require irrigation; in that the privatization of the mining sector is increasing; in that the privatization of water and natural resources is now a fact; in that the automobile industry and factories encounter better comparative advantages for their factories; and in that the energy and electricity sector is passing into private hands.  Moreover, the large dams that have already been built are finishing their cycle of 50 years of utility.

The dams meant to control flooding will not function.  Only 13% of all the large dams in the world, in more than 75 countries, have been built to control flooding.  Moreover, many floods have been caused by climate change provoked by deforestation and the excessive felling of the jungles, which can no longer retain water.  The floods affected the lives of 65 million people between 1972 and 1996, more than any other type of disaster, including war, drought and famine. (World Dam Commission)

The dams built for watering haven’t been successful either.  Between 30-40% of irrigated lands in the entire world depend on the water from dams.  China, India, the United States and Pakistan have more than 50% of the total irrigated lands of the world.  On the other hand, 25% of the large dams built for irrigation have problems with salinity, affecting the crops and making the land unproductive.  This percentage varies.  Between 15% of the irrigated land in China is affected by salinity from dams, whereas we find 80% of the lands affected in Turkmenistan.  Somewhere between these percentages we can find, more or less: Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, the United States and India.

The dams built for electrical energy have not benefited everybody.  Five countries, Canada, the United States, Brazil, China and Russia, generate more than half the world’s hydroelectricity.  Between 1973 and 1996, the generation of hydroelectricity by a select group of member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), went from 29% of the world’s production to 50%, mainly in Latin America.  But in Brazil, despite its large dams, 20 million people do not have electrical energy in their homes.  Not to mention the thousands of people in Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala or Mexico, especially Chiapas, that do not have electrical energy, though these places have large hydroelectric systems.

More than 45 000 large dams built throughout the world have displaced more than 80 million people from their homes; impacting inhabitants upstream and downstream.  People have gone into debt while the companies become richer, according to the World Dams Commission.  This has contributed to climate change and droughts throughout the world with more than 50% of the rivers being dammed world-wide.  What more do me need to take notice?

The world’s anti-dam movement is forming a new fighting strategy.  Solidarity and local networks are becoming stronger.  Information is being dispersed more quickly.  There is more education work.  Awareness about the importance of water and that people and rivers are alive is growing.  There are more alliances and local campaigns throughout the world.  Social and popular organizations are taking note of climate change and of the impact that large dams have on the environment.  Today, the relationship between dams and the privatization of water, infrastructure, rivers, and the electricity sector; the interests of the construction industry, the communication industry, the transport industry, etc., is clearer.  The world movement against dams is linking with the movement against the multilateral banks (WB, IDB, IMF), and with spaces of protest, as well as, spaces of reflection, analysis and the search for alternatives when the world social movement gathers in turn at the negotiations of the WTO, the FTAA, the PPP, the European Union, the Group of Seven, etc..  Now, the interests of the large transnational companies that seek to take possession of water resources, companies such as Coca Cola, Suez, Vivendi, Bechtel, Ford Motor Company among many others, are more evident.  It is clearer that the struggle is for the entire planet, to save life, our world; it is the struggle for human rights and the right to live, to exist.

This March 14^th, the Seventh International Day against Dams will be celebrated and on March 21^st, World Water Day.  Do something.  Put up a banner, have a festival in defence of water and rivers.  Create a song or some cultural activity.  Save water, talk to your children and neighbours.  Denounce the privatization of life, of water, of electrical energy that belong to all and are for all.  Demand justice; develop a speech or an argument.  March, protest, talk and do not stay quiet.  Talk on the radio or on a television program.  Write something in favour of life and prevent that the world be a place for some but rather have it be for all.

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