It's implicit."īut activists point out the cozy relationship Constellation has with the government. for more than 70 years, and for a company to have that kind of permanence, it has to be managed with high national and international standards of ethics and values, and the care of the environment and natural resources. "Constellation Brands has been in the U.S. "A company like Constellation Brands is managed with international standards in terms of high ethics and values," he says. Jorge Burgos, brewery director at Constellation Brands' Mexicali offices, assures there's no laws being broken or ethics being violated. National Water Dispute Heightens Tensions Between U.S., Mexico They're going to leave this region without the resources to live a dignified life." So what's going to happen? They're going to go to another place where there's more water to satisfy the same market and deplete their water. "When the market grows and has to to satisfy consumers, they're going to deplete the water here. "It's a model of exploitation and capitalism where they basically come for the natural resources to exploit them and take them away to wherever the market is," says Galaz Duarte. Members also claim to have been harassed and threatened, beaten and had their offices burglarized. Videos showing members throwing rocks and being bloodied by police batons have gone viral. They've set up encampments, held marches and led protests that have in some cases erupted in violence. While not a drop of the beer would go to the Mexican market, Constellation Brands says the brewery will create 750 permanent jobs in Mexicali.īut members of Mexicali Resiste say the negative impacts far outweigh the possible benefits, and are hoping to stop Goliath in his tracks. Handmade signs decorate the corner where Mexicali Resiste has camped in protest of privatization of the city's water. Constellation Brands says it will use 3.5 liters of water from local wells to produce one liter of beer, amounting to 1.8 billion gallons of water a year. It will initially make 10 million hectoliters of beer (roughly 264 million gallons), according to the company press release. The brewery is slated to open in about five years, and plans to invest another $500 million for infrastructure, land and water rights to double production over time. The company has set up offices in the city, and is working with the local government to build a $1.5 billion brewery that will use local water to make beer for American consumers. Constellation makes wines, spirits and beer, including Corona, Modelo and Pacifico as well as beers from craft brewer Ballast Point. Jesus Galaz Duarte, Mauricio Villa, Alberto Salcido, Francisco Javier Trujillo and Jorge Benitez all form part of Mexicali Resiste, an activist group fighting the opening of a new brewery by the Fortune 500 company Constellation Brands. And just like Batman, they say they're there for justice. The intense wind makes the tarps serving as walls flap loudly, like Batman's cape as he propels down a building. It's a blustery day in the border town of Mexicali in Baja California, Mexico, and five men are huddled inside a makeshift encampment covered with protest signs outside the city's government offices. From left to right, Alberto Salcido, Francisco Javier Trujillo, Mauricio Villa, Jesus Galaz Duarte and Jorge Benitez. Mexicali Resiste members chat outside their encampment in front of Baja California's government offices in Mexicali.
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