LA PAROTA DAM PROJECT
“The relocation of these (indigenous) peoples. . . shall take place only with their willing and informed consent”
(Article 16.2, Convention 169 on indigenous peoples and tribes of independent nations, ILO)
In 1976, the Federal Electrical Commission (CFE) initiated technical studies in “La Parota,” near Acapulco, for the construction of a hydroelectric dam. In 2004, the CFE undertook a study of preconstruction needs and technical and economic feasibility.
 The building of this hydroelectric dam in the ejidal lands of La Parota, on the PapagayoRiver, would mean the following:
- the flooding of 13 towns
- the relocation of more than 20,000 habitants forced to abandon their homes (of whom 76% are farmers)
- the flooding of 14,213 hectares, causing grave environmental deterioration
- the disappearance of the phreatic mantles which supply water to the Port of Acapulco
- a reservoir of water covering 13,728,000 hectares of land
- a dam with a height of 162 meters
- 5 years of work
- 8 billion pesos
According to the Center for Economic and Political Research for Community Action (CIEPAC), the goal of the dam is to supply energy to maquiladoras (sweatshops), big tourist centers, cities and the extraction industry, among others, but not for the development and the needs of communities. Other purposes of the dam are to supply the southern United States with electrical energy and to become a part of the national and Central American electrical network.
La construcción de la presa ha dividido a las comunidades locales: unas están dispuestas a aceptar la indemnización por la destrucción de sus tierras, y otras se oponen enérgicamente. En enero del 2003, el CECOP (Consejo de Ejidos y Comunidades Opositores a La Parota) comenzó sus actividades contra la construcción de la presa. La CFE llevó a cabo algunas consultas con representantes de las comunidades locales sobre la construcción de la presa, pero el CECOP afirma que el proceso de consulta excluyó deliberadamente a quienes se oponían a la presa e indujo a error a otros, por lo que el resultado fue un proceso injusto y no transparente. Marco Antonio Suástegui Muñoz, líder del CECOP, ha recibido amenazas de muerte anónimas por su lucha en contra de la construcción de la presa. Amnistía Internacional hizo pública una acción urgente respeto a su situación el 17 de diciembre de 2004.
The building of the dam has divided the local communities: some are willing to accept compensation for the destruction of their lands while others are stridently opposed. In January of 2003, the CECOP (Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to La Parota) began its work against the construction of the dam. The CECOP claims that while the CFE held some consultations with local community representatives about the building of the dam, those in opposition to the project were deliberately excluded, while those who were present at the meetings were misled, resulting in an unjust and non-transparent process. Marco Antonio Suástegui Muñoz, leader of the CECOP, has received anonymous death threats due to his work against the building of the dam. Amnesty International made public an urgent action regarding the situation on December 17, 2004.
According to the Representative Adrián Chávez Ruiz, coordinator of Rural Development of the PRD parliamentary group in the National Congress, the CFE studies did not fully explore the consequences of the project in terms of environmental impact as well as foreseen profits. In addition, she recalls that the building of La Parota has been “strongly questioned by various groups and social organizations, environmentalists and those working in human rights.” In the face of this opposition, the CFE has demonstrated an “attitude of persecution of the people, including the fabrication of crimes which has resulted in the imprisonment of people opposed to the dam.” As a result, Chávez Ruiz warns, “there is the possibility, and a real risk, that the social peace in the area will be broken open.”
Another dam project in the Nahua territory of the High Balsas was suspended in 1992 thanks to the mobilization and the peaceful resistance of the Council of Nahua Peoples in the Alto Balsas. However, to date, the project has not been cancelled.
Sources:
- El Sur, July 14, 2005;
- CIEPAC, Chiapas al día, March 10, 2004;
- Amnesty International Urgent Action, December 17, 2004.
Campaign of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountain against the La Parota Dam
Consult the Tlachinollan campaign website against La Parota which includes a detailed analysis of the consequences of this project in terms of human rights violations as well as the social and environmental impacts.
The Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountain is a non-governmental organization based in Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero. For the past eleven years, the Center has accompanied the Nahua, Na Savi (Mixteco), Me’phaa (Tlapaneco), Amuzgo, and Mestizo communities of the Mountain region and the Costa Chica of the state of Guerrero, in their struggles for justice and respect for their human rights.
http://www.tlachinollan.org/casos/parota.htm
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CHRONOLOGY OF THE MOST RECENT EVENTS
- Subcomandante Marcos’ visit to La Parota (April 16, 2006)
- The La Parota Dam “will only be built with a war against the Southeast of Mexico”: Marcos, La Jornada, April 17, 2006,
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2006/04/17/010n1pol.php
- “Do not leave us alone, keep fighting with strength and determination, states Marcos to opponents of La Parota,” El Sur de Acapulco, April 18, 2006, http://www.suracapulco.com.mx/pda/notapad.php?id_nota=191&sec=3
- March led by the Governor of Guerrero in support of La Parota (May 9, 2006)
- March in response to the mobilization led by the Governor of Guerrero (May 14, 2006)
- Visit of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, to the Town of Aguacaliente (August 10, 2006)
- o The Rapporteur of the UN, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, meets with opponents of La Parota, Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountain, August 8, 2006,
http://www.tlachinollan.org/notbp/notbp060810.htm
- The UN asks that the opposition to La Parota be respected, La Jornada, August 11, 2006,http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2006/08/11/039n1est.php
- Declaration of the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to the La Parota Dam (CECOP) (August 11, 2006)
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