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El Ciudadano

Original article: Masivas manifestaciones por el agua en todo Chile: Amplio repudio a medidas de Kast contra el medio ambiente

Thousands Mobilize Across Chile on World Water Day: «Reclaiming Water Means Reclaiming Dignity»

On March 22, from Arica to Punta Arenas, environmental organizations, communities, and water defenders participated in a historic mobilization for World Water Day. Under the banner of “Reclaiming Water Means Reclaiming Dignity”, thousands took to the streets demanding an end to the extractivist model that privatizes and over-exploits water, undermining the rights of indigenous, rural, and urban territories. Protests were organized in more than twenty locations including Arica, Antofagasta, San Pedro de Atacama, La Serena, Copiapó, Vallenar, Alto del Carmen, Santiago, Valparaíso, Rancagua, Cobquecura, Concepción, Temuco, Pucón, Valdivia, Chiloé, Coyhaique, Puerto Natales, and Punta Arenas, among others.

In Santiago, the rally was coordinated by the Movement for Water and Territories (MAT), the Movement for Defense of Access to Water, Land, and Environmental Protection (MODATIMA), and the Community Environmental Movement for Water and Territory (MOSACAT). Starting just after 11:00 AM from the Universidad Católica metro station, the march gathered thousands of participants, marking the first mobilization of such magnitude against Kast’s government. Protesters highlighted setbacks in water rights and the halt of various decrees aimed at protecting nature and the environment enforced by the current administration.

The demonstration sought to raise awareness about the urgent need for democratic, fair, and sustainable water management, recognizing it as an essential common good rather than a commodity. Organizers emphasized that the water crisis in Chile is not a result of natural scarcity, but rather a development model that has concentrated water rights in the hands of large mining, agricultural, and industrial companies, leaving entire communities without access to this vital resource.

With an unprecedented territorial mobilization, the events on World Water Day signify a turning point in the country’s environmental struggle. Organizations announced they will continue to collaborate efforts to demand the repeal of regulations favoring water privatization, the protection of glaciers, and the establishment of a new social pact ensuring water as a fundamental human right.

The mobilizations took various forms. In the Huasco Valley, voices were raised to reaffirm their identity, history, and survival, intrinsically linked to this vital resource. What began nearly 30 years ago with civil resistance against the Pascua Lama mega-project—in defense of glaciers as “perpetual water banks”—is now reignited in the face of new mining threats and the weakening of environmental protections. The organized community held a ceremony at the Huasco River, warning that despite recent government signals jeopardizing conservation norms, the collective memory of the territory remains unbreakable.

See some highlights from the demonstrations:

Report from El Ciudadano. Protest in Santiago

Citizens mobilize for water and the environment. The signs say it all! @antipatriarka

OLCA Report. Mobilization in Santiago

OLCA Report. Mobilization in Concepción

Mobilization in Juan Fernández Island (Defend Patagonia)

March in La Serena

In Pucón

Valdivia

La entrada Massive Protests Across Chile Demand Water Rights: Strong Opposition to Kast’s Environmental Policies se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.