Territory and Water in the NAFTA Automotive Corridor in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Abstract

The paper discusses how water and land for industry were concentrated in this territory, based on various expropriations of land from ejidos and the granting of concessions and sale of water by the state and federal government since the 1970s, especially with the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. It first examines how the automotive industry was installed in Mexico and the Bajio center. Second, the case of the industrial corridor of San Luis Potosí, the use and concentration of water and land for the automotive industry, is analyzed. It is concluded that transnational automotive corporations have concentrated water and land to make their goods, under the direct support of the Mexican State, which favored the use of industrial water over domestic water for the population of the city of San Luis Potosí.