Water as private property

Transnational companies tighten their grip on region’s water resources. The global water crisis will leave 2.7 billion people in 2025 facing difficulties obtaining water or even without this vital substance.

This alarming truth has prompted the creation of a powerful social movement to defend this resource, and at the same time it has driven multinational companies to seek control of the region’s existing reserves.

Social organizations define water as a public good that should be managed by national governments, but international finance organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) say that only private sector investment — to the tune of US$50 billion a year — can guarantee universal water access in Latin America.

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