Disputas hídricas y despojoEl caso de los humedales de Montaña en San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México

Abstract

The processes of geographical expansion carried out by the capitalist economic system mean that the natural reserves that are part of the biocultural heritage of the Mexican people are continually degraded. The incorporation of land into the process of urban growth as the basis for the business of real estate speculation undoubtedly entails a process of dispossession not only of land and social rights, but also of fundamental eco-systemic services such as the right to a healthy environment, to quality water and to biodiversity. This article describes the conceptual categories that allow us to explain the process of loss of wetlands in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, as well as the process that is being experienced specifically, in the dispute of territorialities between the defense of water, life and ecology and the process of subsuming the dynamics of urban growth and capitalist valorization of space. The qualitative research methodology was used and a series of interviews were carried out with socio-environmental actors.