Trouble brewing: Maya people in Yucatán fear new Heineken plant’s thirst for water

<p>Indigenous groups in Mexico opposed to the planned brewery say families already have little access to water – and that their way of life is also under threat</p><p>On a summer evening in southern Mexico, a percussion group using water bottles as instruments leads a procession through Mérida, capital of Yucatán state. Children walking alongside elderly people are guided by members of Múuch’ Xíinbal, a Maya land rights organisation. The placards they carry declare: “Water is not for sale.” A heavy chant accompanies the march: “It’s not a drought – it’s plunder!”</p><p>At a rallying point in the city, protesters read from a manifesto and accuse the government of prioritising profit over water, health and land. They denounce a wave of mega-projects imposed without their consent, from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/25/drugs-hormones-excrement-pig-farms-mexico-water-yucatan">industrial-scale pig farms</a> to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/may/23/fury-as-maya-train-nears-completion-mexico">controversial Maya Train</a> tourist expansion. But they reserve their greatest anger for the Heineken brewery in Kanasín, near Mérida, which was <a href="https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/heineken-to-build-2-75bn-brewery-in-the-yucatan-peninsula/">announced in June</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/oct/04/maya-heineken-brewery-yucatan-mexico-cenote-ring">Continue reading...</a>