Suffocated by the accumulated heat of the day, the night became long. The smell of smoke woke us up. At that moment we thought that some neighbor was burning garbage. We soon realized that the smell was different. It smelled more like burnt wood.

The Fifth Community Assembly for Water (La Quinta Asamblea Comunitaria por el Agua) was held on Friday, May 5, 2023, in Pacho Viejo, Veracruz, Mexico. Pacho Viejo seems an apt location for a convention on the protection and conservation of la Cuenca la Antigua (the Antigua Watershed). It is in the geographic heart of this river basin, situated between the cities of Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, and Coatepec, often called “the Coffee Capital of Mexico.” This assembly of Sentinelas de rio (River Sentinels) represented a convergence of undercurrents running beneath the region’s rich culture, ongoing political strife, and incredible biodiversity, all flowing toward safeguarding the ultimate source of life: water.