In drought-ridden Mexicali, local farmers aren’t just worried about the dry, hot summers. Farmers like Carmelo Gallegos are engaged in a bitter fight against a new American beer factory they say will dry up the little water they have left. 

Constellation Brands is pushing ahead with a Mexicali brewery plant that will produce 4 million bottles of beer a day -- all destined for American consumers. The owner of Corona, Negra Modelo, and Pacifico, Constellation Brands is determined to open the plant in 2019 despite years of protests. 

Now, activists have set up a protest camp near the factory construction site, calling out the hypocrisy of Constellation Brands and a state government they allege is in cahoots with U.S. corporate interests. But it’s up to us, as American consumers, to tell Constellation we don’t want beer that’s brewed from the water Mexicali farmers depend on for their livelihoods. 

While state officials claim the brewery will bring new jobs to the region, protesters are skeptical. “If this brewery was such a good deal wouldn’t it be [across the border] in Calexico or Las Vegas?” wondered 75-year old farmer Eduardo Cisneros. “They just want cheap water and cheap labour.”

Water experts like Jesus Roman Callero suggest Constellation make a deal with farmers to treat agricultural runoff for reuse. But that depends on Constellation committing to a transparent, sustainable plan that considers local farmers as real stakeholders in the project. Meanwhile, took a lawsuit on behalf of Mexicali farmers to even get the Baja California state government to release the brewery’s environmental impact study. 

For too long, U.S. corporations have treated Mexico as a source of cheap labor and resources, while free trade agreements have reoriented Mexico’s economy towards American exports. That’s left farmers like Eduardo Cisneros and Carmelo Gallegos in the dust. Now, it’s up to us to stand with those protesting Constellation Brands’ new Mexicali brewery and demand they respect local water rights.