For the Diaguita people, it has always been about land.
“The word Diaguita comes from the Quechua language, meaning ‘those of the hills,’” explains Alexis Escobar Muñoz, Indigenous leader of the Diaguita community of Monte Patria, Coquimbo, in north-central Chile.
“Working with the land in this area is in our DNA.”
Though only recognised by the Chilean state in 2006, the Diaguita presence in the region dates back millennia. Drawing on the landscape’s mountainous terrain, they traditionally engaged in hillside farming using natural water channels. But not anymore.
“That’s not happening now,” says Escobar Muñoz. “Agroindustry builds massive tanks high in the mountains. This stops water flowing down.”
Alexis’ area is dominated by monoculture. Alongside fields of fruit like oranges and avocados, there are over 10,000 hectares of planted grapevines, frequently used to make one of Chile’s most famous exports: wine.
The cost of wine
Chile is a major player in the global wine trade. In 2024, wine exports totalled $1.62 billion USD, with Chilean bottles lining supermarket shelves across the Global North.
It is also a water-intensive business. According to estimates, producing one gallon of wine requires between four and ten gallons of water.
High demand for water is difficult in a country where it is so scarce. Chile has suffered a ‘megadrought’ since 2010, the longest dry spell in recorded history. Though lower precipitation is a result of climate change, experts say there are structural factors at play.
“We have a drought situation, which is [a] natural phenomenon. But scarcity is relative,” explains Dr. Rodrigo Fuster Gómez, professor of environmental science at the University of Chile. “Agriculture plays a very important role because it’s a principal water consumer.”
The central region of Chile is the country’s agricultural powerhouse, producing most of its fruit and wine. It has also been hardest hit by the megadrought.
Despite this, more fruit trees are being planted: “You would not expect these crops to spread in scarcity conditions. However, the statistics say that the fruit-growing territory has increased,” Rodrigo says.
Over the past five years, Chile’s total fruit production area has grown annually by 1.8%. Chile’s water supply, on the other hand, is at risk of running out by 2040.
Water as a ‘commodity’
Big industry has historically had a stranglehold on Chile’s water supply.
Drafted under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, the 1980 Constitution enshrined the private ownership of water. The 1981 General Water Law, commonly known as the ‘Water Code,’ established water in Chile as an economic asset to be bought and sold. The legacy of this legislation remains to the present day.
“There has been no political will to make water a human right. While there have been modifications to the Water Code, the core of it has remained almost unchanged,” says René Vergara from Modatima, an organisation based in Petorca, central Chile, that defends public access to water.
Around the turn of the millennium, avocado production started to expand in Petorca province. At low prices, agricultural companies bought land on the hill slopes and set up large plantations.
As well as eroding the soil and damaging the local ecosystem, avocado monoculture put major strain on the water supply.
Acquiring water rights from the state, agribusinesses restricted river access and began groundwater extraction. Because of the government’s limited ability to oversee the proper administration of the system, there was an over-issuance of water rights.
“More water rights were granted than there was water available,” Vergara explains. “As a result, the rivers stopped carrying surface water, mostly affecting small farmers, livestock owners, and family agriculture.”
Pesticides and pisco
Over 100 miles to the north of Petorca, the community of Monte Patria is also locked out of the water supply chain. But from a water blockage, problems flow.
“If there’s no water to drink, there’s certainly none to sustain traditional Indigenous agriculture that supplies local food markets,” says Escobar Muñoz.
Faced with the mounting crisis, the Chilean state began delivering water by tanker truck. As of 2022, 15.4% of rural communities received ‘truck water’. But without ample supply to go around, plants and livestock often die from lack of water.
And when disaster strikes, it is far from enough.
A few years ago, a forest fire broke out in Monte Patria, destroying over 120 hectares of vegetation. The mayor of Monte Patria has attributed the cause of the fire to water shortages. According to the Indigenous leader, firefighter planes struggled to extinguish the flames because they were unable to draw from private wells in the area.
“Even in an emergency, families like Luksic’s didn’t provide water,” he says.
The Luksic family is the wealthiest in South America. Starting out in northern Chile’s copper mining sector in the 1950s, today the business conglomerate Luksic Group is active across the continent in various sectors, from manufacturing to food and beverages.
Andrónico Luksic Craig, son of the Luksic Group’s founder, owns Agrícola El Cerrito. The company is known for producing pisco, an Andean brandy also made from grapes.
In 2022, El Cerrito was fined 60 million Chilean pesos ($63,000 USD) for illegally extracting water from a depleted river basin in Chile’s Coquimbo region. Though the Luksic company has denied all charges, the Supreme Court upheld the decision in 2024.
Luksic also co-owned the Bellavita farm until 2004. According to CIPHER, one of the farm’s workers died after being exposed to toxic chemicals used in agricultural production.
One of the most widely used herbicides in monoculture is glyphosate. Along with contaminating soil and groundwater, studies warn that communities directly exposed to the chemical have a greater risk of cancer, heart problems, and even birth defects.
“I work in education, and I see the impact on children: autism, cleft lips, missing limbs – all linked to pesticide exposure during pregnancy. But nothing is done,” says Escobar Muñoz.
Where wine comes from
In Limarí Province, Coquimbo, where Alexis is based, the Luksic family owns a winery with vineyards covering hundreds of hectares of the surrounding valleys.
The name of the company is Tabalí, itself a Diaguita family name.
For Escobar Muñoz, this is a cruel twist from an agroindustry which has done so much harm to land he sees as belonging to his people.
“Luksic branded the wines with indigenous names … the very families he displaced and dispossessed,” he says.
Chile’s wine industry continues to grow. With the sector projected to expand by fifth in just four years, there is no shortage of demand.
But for wine-lovers, Alexis’ message is clear: “Ask yourselves: where does that wine come from? What’s the story behind the name of the wine you’re drinking?”
Featured image:
Image: Viñedo Puente Alto, Chile
Author: Fsanchezs
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Licence: Creative Commons Licenses
