Carmen Maganda,Rocio Mercedes Meza Suares, Asociation Solidarité Tiers Monde, , rociomeza@gmx.net
Short abstract:
Access to water varies between Europe and Latin America. Whereas it is considered a welldistributed resource in Europe, many Latin American social movements are fighting against environmental violations related to water access. Notwithstanding the U.N. declaration on the human right to safe and clean water, Latin America’s water background has become problematic due to complex stakeholder scenarios, competition for the resource caused by social inequities; a weakness of democratic performance, technical problems and short term policies, among other structural problems. Despite these difficulties, progress has occurred. Unlike Europe where directives focus on water conservation and contamination, Latin American polities have begun to operationalize water as a human right. This paper aims to show some of these regional efforts, such as the Latin American Water Tribunal, the “disconnected” movements, and the referendums on progress to include the human right to water in the legislation of many Latin American states.