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| Movimiento por el Agua y los Territorios (MOVIAT) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Movimiento por el Agua y los Territorios (MOVIAT) |
| Native name | Movimiento por el Agua y los Territorios |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Headquarters | Cochabamba, Bolivia |
| Region served | Bolivia, Andes |
| Fields | Environmentalism, Indigenous rights, Water justice |
Movimiento por el Agua y los Territorios (MOVIAT) is a Bolivian social movement and network formed in response to extractive projects and water governance disputes in the Andes. It mobilizes indigenous communities, campesino organizations, and urban activists to contest mining, hydrocarbon, and water infrastructure projects across Bolivia. MOVIAT engages in direct action, legal challenges, and participatory mapping in coordination with local and international allies.
MOVIAT emerged after protests associated with the Water Wars (Cochabamba) and the mobilizations surrounding the 2019 Bolivian political crisis that followed debates over natural resource control. Founders included leaders linked to Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, activists from Cochabamba Department, and representatives of Amazonian indigenous federations such as Federación Sindical de Comunidades Interculturales de Bolivia. Early actions referenced precedents like the Gas War (Bolivia) and drew on tactics used during resistance to projects like the Tipnis protests and disputes over the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory. International attention connected MOVIAT to networks spawned after events like the Paris Agreement negotiations and campaigns against multinational companies active in Latin America, including some implicated in conflicts similar to those around the Conga Mine and the El Cerrejón coal mine controversies.
MOVIAT structures combine grassroots assemblies, regional coordinating committees in departments such as La Paz Department, Potosí Department, and Santa Cruz Department, and an advisory council that includes advocates associated with institutions like the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and legal teams experienced with petitions to bodies such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Prominent figures associated with allied movements include leaders from the Movimiento al Socialismo period, indigenous authorities comparable to the Aymara and Quechua representatives, and civil society lawyers with experience in cases before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Decision-making mixes elements of the ayllu governance traditions and consultative practices seen in the Constituent Assembly (Bolivia, 2006–2007). Coordination often involves municipal governments like Municipality of Cochabamba and international NGOs with histories of collaboration in Latin America such as those formerly active in campaigns around Ombudsman of Bolivia interventions.
MOVIAT's platform emphasizes defense of water rights, territorial sovereignty, and recognition of indigenous territorial claims akin to protections sought under instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The group opposes extractive projects linked to companies like multinational mining firms involved in conflicts similar to those at Potosí mines and large-scale hydroelectric developments comparable to disputes over the Rositas (Bolivia) project. Policy demands reference legal frameworks including provisions of the Political Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia and call for compliance with rulings from bodies like the Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal. MOVIAT advocates participatory environmental impact assessments, comparative to protocols used in Brazil and Ecuador, and pushes for water management models informed by indigenous water governance practiced in regions around Lake Titicaca and the Andes highlands.
MOVIAT has organized blockades on transit corridors linking mining zones to export routes such as those passing through Oruro Department and has led demonstrations in cities including La Paz and Cochabamba. Campaigns targeted projects tied to companies operating near areas analogous to conflicts at Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and contested dam proposals with parallels to the controversies over the Itaipu Dam and regional hydroelectric schemes. The movement has filed complaints before national courts and international institutions similar to cases brought to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and has coordinated monitoring with environmental NGOs historically active in Latin America like groups that once campaigned around Chevron Corporation litigation. Tactics have ranged from legal injunctions modeled on strategies used in Ecuadorian litigation to mass mobilizations comparable to the Cochabamba Water War and strategic use of social media platforms popular in Latin America.
MOVIAT maintains alliances with peasant unions, indigenous federations, urban social movements, regional academic centers such as universities in Cochabamba and La Paz, and international solidarity networks connected to organizations that participated in coalitions during events like the World Social Forum. Cross-border ties link MOVIAT with activists in Peru, Chile, and Brazil who have organized around transnational river basins like the Amazon River and Andean watersheds. The coalition engages with international environmental organizations and human rights bodies that have intervened in Latin American resource conflicts, similar to relationships seen between local movements and NGOs involved in disputes over the Marlin Mine and other high-profile cases.
MOVIAT influenced municipal and departmental policy revisions in several areas, prompting moratoria on exploratory permits in territories where indigenous authorities asserted rights reminiscent of protections in the Isiboro Sécure rulings. The movement's actions have contributed to broader public debates involving national leaders from parties such as Movimiento al Socialismo and opposition figures active since the 2019 Bolivian political crisis. Critics, including business associations and some municipal councils, have accused MOVIAT of impeding investment similar to claims lodged during disputes over the San Cristóbal mine and of engaging in disruptive tactics like blockades that affected logistics linked to regional export corridors serving ports on the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean via continental routes. Legal challenges and negotiations continue, involving institutions such as the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and international mediators with experience in Latin American natural resource conflicts.
Category:Social movements Category:Environmental organizations based in Bolivia