Petorca, the icon of the drought in Chile who voted rejection: "The approval was not going to make it rain"

Despite the fact that it was a rainy winter in Chile compared to previous years, the Petorca River does not run a trickle of water.

Héctor Robles, 66, shows with disappointment a mesh of avocados that grew in the patio of his house.

Now they are small, he regrets, while a cistern truck travels through the streets of his neighborhood.

The firefighters have had the tank car accumulating fungus and tartar for a month.

They can't change the water because the fountains are empty.

The rural commune of Petorca (in the Valparaíso region, 220 km northwest of Santiago), a disaster area due to water scarcity, is one of the emblematic faces of the mega-drought that Chile has been dragging on for 13 years.

The constitutional proposal roundly rejected by the Chileans put an end to the privatization of water and consecrated it as a human right.

He considered it an "inappropriate" common good of which a "reasonable use" should be made.

For this reason, environmental activists took Petorca's support for granted.

However, 56% of its population rejected the text, which triggered an avalanche of criticism from sectors that defended the Approval.

The governor, Rodrigo Mundaca, described the vote as "quite irrational" and the mayor, Ignacio Villalobos, stated that perhaps the people voted "with fear, ignorance, or unawareness."

A cistern truck supplies water to a house in a neighborhood of Petorca. Cristian Soto Quiroz

Voters were mocked on social media.

“Those from Petorca prefer to bathe with a liter of water”, “People from Petorca: everyone has the human right to water. Was it so difficult for them to read?”, “Lady from Petorca who does not have water to wash her hands, from Concepción I left to the streets to seek dignity for you, today I apologize because I did not know that you were happy without washing them”, were some of the tweets with up to 17,000 likes.

The case has become an obligatory topic when an explanation is sought as to why the proposal was rejected by the sectors that supposedly would benefit most from its approval.

Two factors have directly influenced the water crisis suffered by Petorca.

The first is the mega drought.

Of the nearly 10,000 inhabitants of the municipality, 20% are supplied by cistern trucks.

The second, the use and management of water protected by the current Constitution, which establishes private ownership of the rights to use water.

Petorca is the second avocado-producing municipality in the Valparaíso region, which concentrates more than half of the national production.

To produce a kilo of this fruit, about 600 liters of water are required, according to data from the World Avocado Organization (WAO).

Víctor Palacios, 40, voted rejection in the constitutional plebiscite in Petorca, Valparaíso. Cristian Soto Quiroz

Léo Heller, UN special rapporteur on the human rights to drinking water and sanitation, warned in January about the Petorca case that the Chilean government "should not prioritize avocado plantations" over "the rights to health and water of their people, and companies must address the adverse impact of their operations on these rights.”

In a tour carried out this Thursday through the municipality, the dozens of interviewees for this report explained the reasons that determined their vote.

The response of Paulina Carreño, 36, was repeated among those who voted Rejection: “The problem we have here is the drought.

The Approval was not going to make it rain.

The issue of water is for irrigation, not for human consumption”.

Her mother, Andrea Fernández, 56, agreed with the changes in relation to water rights, like several, but they seemed insufficient to approve "a bad text."

Among the articles that led Fernández to reject the proposal, he mentions pensions, another argument that was repeated among those consulted.

"For me it is not fair that I am working all my life to have a decent retirement and they say that the money is for the Government and not for my children," he explains at a stall at the fair where he mainly sells kitchen utensils.

The proposal established a Social Security System and did not specify whether the funds would be inheritable or not.

Andrea Fernández, 56, at her stall at the Petorca fair. Cristian Soto Quiroz (Chile-fotos-al8)

Agriculture is the main economic activity of the commune after trade.

One of the residents' concerns about the constitutional proposal was that it would affect employment.

“Those from the Approval said that the owners of the farms are thieves and that can be seen on the one hand, but they are not to blame for the national drought.

How many jobs does agriculture give us?

If we take their water away and get them out of here, they'd lose a lot of jobs.

Behind every worker there is a family.

That is not convenient for us as a people,” says Maria Tapia, 66, an employee of Esval, the Valparaíso sanitation company.

Engineer Ariel Silva, 38, also questioned the articles in the text that could impact not only agriculture, but also mining, the fourth economic activity in the municipality.

“Several mining deposits are being exploited in the area.

Efforts should focus on better enforcement.

That the General Directorate of Waters (DGA) fulfill its function, ”he affirms in the town square.

Two avocado vendors wait for customers on a street in Petorca, Chile.

Christian Soto Quiroz

Marileu Avendaño, president of the National Confederation of Producers of Chile (Conaproch), thought that she would win her option in Petorca "because of all that it means for this community that water is consecrated as a common good that cannot be appropriated."

She avendaño attributes the triumph of the rejection to the “fear of losing their houses and having their pension funds taken away”, two arguments that several neighbors mentioned.

In a rural area strongly rooted in Chilean traditions, where rodeo is practiced, for example, they were also not in favor of including animals as sentient beings and were offended by the contempt for the Chilean flag at the Approval event in Valparaíso.

Aerial view of the reservoirs in the valleys of Petorca, Valparaíso.

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