Water as such has rights

The revolutionary process of change in Bolivia has its roots precisely in the struggle against the privatization of water in my country. Ten years ago, we had one of the biggest battles to defend this resource from privatization in the city of Cochabamba and to oppose and change a law that privatized the sources of potable water for indigenous peoples in farming communities that rely on irrigation. Thanks to our success in stopping the privatization of water and modifying that law, a great unity was born among the Bolivian people which later allowed us to seek even deeper changes, notably the recovery of our natural resources and the recovery of our government – ourown government, not one dictated from the outside.

Discurso en la ONU en ocasión de la adopción de la Resolución del Derecho Humano al Agua y al Saneamiento

Señor Presidente

Permítanme empezar la presentación de esta Resolución recordando que “Los seres humanos somos esencialmente agua”. Alrededor de dos terceras partes de nuestro organismo están compuestas de agua. Un 75% de nuestro cerebro está constituido por agua, y el agua es el principal vehículo de las transmisiones electroquímicas de nuestro organismo.

Keynote speech presenting at the United Nations the resolution “The Human Right to Water and Sanitation”

Mr. President,

Allow me to begin the presentation of this Resolution by recalling that human beings are essentially water. Around two thirds of our organism is comprised of water. Some 75 percent of our brain is made up of water, and water is the principal vehicle for the electrochemical transmissions of our body.