"Argentines Reject Israeli Company in Jujuy Water Management", 21 May 2024

...[T]he Indigenous peoples of the Jujuy province were excluded from the first meeting of the “Water Table,” in which local authorities presented details of the 2024 Agreement with the Israeli consulting firm Mekorot.

Social organizations, water consortia, and neighborhood centers also did not participate in a meeting where Governor Carlos Sadir was expected to inform about his policy proposals before Mekorot's arrival on June 6.

Indigenous communities called on citizens to protest in Santiago de Jujuy City's Begrano Square to demand that the authorities comply with the International Labour Organization's Convention 169, which stipulates that governments must conduct free, prior, and informed consultations with the local population regarding the management of common resources.

“No to Mekorot,” “No to the Water Agreement,” and “No to the Emergency Law” were some of the slogans raised by environmental and human rights defenders...

“The agreement with Mekorot will be based on projects that do not respond to the communities, but to the interests of companies through the Federal Investment Council (CFI),” local outlet Jujuy Dice commented.

“It aims to control the water without providing information about the agreement and without respecting the free, prior, and informed consultation,” it added, recalling that Mekorot has been accused of limiting Palestinians' access to water...