Blog from El Salto, 20 mins. Outside of Guadalajara

Posted on December 3

El Salto, about 20 minutes outside of Guadalajara. This is their river, their drinking water, their fishing water, their life. The water pours over the falls and creates massive bubbles of white foam. The foam is so dense and prolific that I can´t see the water itself for about a 100 yards after the bottom of the falls. Standing atop a ruined building that might use to have been a factory, it is disturbingly beautiful - looking like snow or bubble bath suds, but smelling like sulfur and a racoon that died under your porch. Upstream companies like Cargill, IBM and Honda dump their chemicals into the river, with no reprecussions. Downstream the people of El Salto, and other communities, live with a toxic waste dump. The companies cannot be persuaded to stop dumping, at least not yet. A little while ago a 9 year old boy fell into the river and died 19 days later of arsenic poisoning. The other children have chronic disease, the adults have cancer. I felt like cancer was permeating by body just standing near the river. The companies are doing this to the people, the don´t care and they never will. The people of El Salto are building their power so they can force the corporations to clean the river and leave the state, we are witness to that struggle. Standing on the cliff with the smell of death in my face, my fire raged and my tears flowed.

By Kari Koch, Portland Central American Solidarity Committee

El Salto, about 20 minutes outside of Guadalajara. This is their river, their drinking water, their fishing water, their life. The water pours over the falls and creates massive bubbles of white foam. The foam is so dense and prolific that I can´t see the water itself for about a 100 yards after the bottom of the falls. Standing atop a ruined building that might use to have been a factory, it is disturbingly beautiful - looking like snow or bubble bath suds, but smelling like sulfur and a racoon that died under your porch. Upstream companies like Cargill, IBM and Honda dump their chemicals into the river, with no reprecussions. Downstream the people of El Salto, and other communities, live with a toxic waste dump. The companies cannot be persuaded to stop dumping, at least not yet. A little while ago a 9 year old boy fell into the river and died 19 days later of arsenic poisoning. The other children have chronic disease, the adults have cancer. I felt like cancer was permeating by body just standing near the river. The companies are doing this to the people, the don´t care and they never will. The people of El Salto are building their power so they can force the corporations to clean the river and leave the state, we are witness to that struggle. Standing on the cliff with the smell of death in my face, my fire raged and my tears flowed.

— 1 day ago

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