Is it possible to take another look, from the discourses of peace, at the frustrated relocation of the community of Acasico, Jalisco?

Abstract

The promotion and implementation of mega-projects related to dams, water transfers, aqueducts and mining are triggers for socio-environmental conflicts involving a wide variety of actors -public, private and civil society-. A clear example is the construction of the El Zapotillo dam and aqueduct in the state of Jalisco. This initiative has turned practically the entire country upside down due to the great controversy it has unleashed. The mobilization against the materialization of such project, promoted mainly by the community of Temacapulín, has disrupted the lives of the few families of Palmarejo, who have already been relocated, as well as the farmers of Acasico, one of the three communities that have been seriously affected by this proposal. In the last visit -August 2019- that was made to this community, the relocation situation was still unfinished; two years later, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has made agreements with the people of Temacapulín, but not with the residents of Acasico, so they are still waiting for the agreements made with the corresponding authorities to be fulfilled. This article analyzes the actions carried out by Fundación Desarrollo Sustentable in this community, as well as the profound changes in its social fabric and daily dynamics.