The government plans to flood out more than 590 homes.  Although the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) states that only 2 812 inhabitants will be displaced, many communities surpass this statistic.  Nonetheless, the people know how many they are:  more than 20 000 inhabitants from 13 localities located in three municipalities in the state of Guerrero that will have to abandon their places.  In the ejidal and communal lands, 76% of the population works in agriculture.  The dam will cover 13 728 thousand hectares of land.  The dam will have a capacity that is three times less than the La Angostura dam; two times the Malpaso dam; but four times more than the Chicoasen dam; and it will be larger than the dam planned for Itzantun, all of which are in Chiapas.

In the document, “The La Parota Hydroelectric Project of the State of Guerrero” written by the Financed Investment Headquarters, a department under the CFE’s Construction Management, dated in 2002, it is established that the hydro-electric project will be based on certain principles in relation to society:  social equity, sustainability, effectiveness in actions, participatory decision-making and responsibility in the fulfilment of agreements.  The CFE classifies the La Parota dam as “a viable alternative to meet the electrical energy demands of the central area of the country”.  It will be located on the Papagayo River watershed, 350 km south of Mexico City and less than 50 km from Acapulco’s airport.  The dam’s height will be 162 meters and it will join the more than 45 000 dams that have been built throughout the world on 60% of the planet’s rivers, according to the World Dam Commission’s year 2000 report.  It’s 765 MW of installable potential is centered on the neoliberal model of development, in the framework of the Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) and it has as its objective the provision of energy to the maquiladoras (factories), the large tourist centers, the cities and the extraction industries among others.  It is not, however, centered on the development and the needs of the people.  The hydroelectric mega-projects also intend to supply electrical energy to the southern United States and to join with the national and Central American electrical network.

In 1976 the CFE began technical studies at the La Parota site and in 1988 the geological feasibility study was completed.  More than 20 years ago the socio-environmental study of the region was done, this was later updated in 1994.  The CFE already has its economic technical feasibility and preconstruction study.  According to the commission, its “strategic priorities” with respect to the hydroelectric construction are: permanent information and systematic participation with the communities; exhaustive evaluation of actions; preservation of the means of subsistence; recognition of heritage rights; provision of common benefits; and the assurance of meeting standards.  Three challenges were also emphasised: that the La Parota dam be “socially desirable”, “environmentally sustainable”, and “economically profitable”.  In parallel, the CFE calculates that the affected production will be 320 hectares of fruit cultivation and 3 500 hectares of other cultivated lands.  Moreover, two highway bridges over the Omitlan and the Papagayo rivers, 16.6 km of paved highway, 22.8 km of unpaved roads, 31.5 km of transmission and electrical energy distribution lines and the La Venta central hydro-electric installation will all be flooded.

It should not be forgotten that the construction of dams in the world during the 20^th century has resulted in the loss of 50% of the humid areas of the world, and that at least 20% of the fish are in danger of extinction.  Up to the year 2003, 47 000 large dams had been built throughout the world and more than 800 000 small dams according to the International River Network (IRN).  World-wide, 67% of water is used for agriculture, the sector that wastes the most of this liquid; and 19% is taken up by highly contaminating industries.  In the specific case of the energy produced by large dams, 36% of the dams have been constructed for irrigation; 20% to generate energy; 17% to supply water; 12% for flood control; 9 % for recreation and 6% for other uses.

Other states in the country have not been spared the effects of dams.  In August 2002, a state of maximum alert was declared in Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi due to the overflows of the La Ventanilla and the El Capulin Dam.  Later the dam broke owing to the pressure from the water and 3000 people were affected in various communities with 13 dead and 15 missing.  A year later, in September 2003, about 5000 people were evacuated from various communities in the state of Nayarit when the Aguamilpa dam threatened to overflow.  In the state of Nuevo Leon, more than 10 communities were affected when the floodgates of the El Cuchillo dam were opened to avoid having the dam burst.  In Acambaro, Michoacan, more than 200 homes were washed away when the Solis dam floodgates were opened.

It is estimated that construction on the La Parota dam will be finished in 2010, the year when the majority of the country’s dams will have completed their “useful life” of 50 years.  The mega-projects of Vicente Fox’s term in office are also seen in the great hydroelectric project of El Cajon in the state of Nayarit, in the expansion of the Benito Juarez dam in Oaxaca and in the hydroelectric projects in Chiapas, as well as the privatization of electrical energy and the million dollar contracts obtained by large Spanish, German, Japanese and American transnational companies, among others. 

In the state of Guerrero, there are already six central electrical energy generators (four hydroelectric:  La Venta, La Villita, Infiernillo and El Caracol; one gas: Las Cruces; and one thermo-electric: Petacalco).  For the year 2000, they contributed 9.2% of the country’s total electrical production while the percent of places with electricity in Guerrero was 47.9% occupying 25^th place at the national level.  Guerrero, as well as the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, are the places where inhabitants are least likely to have access to electricity in their homes.

The international bank has been instrumental for the financing of the large dams, which have moreover indebted countries.  It is also harnessing the wealth of the big transnational corporations and the privatizing of infrastructure, electrical energy and water.  Not one hydroelectric system has achieved its projected energy production and in general, costs have increased up to 56% over the initial estimate.  In the same way, the actual time for construction is always months and up to years more than what was calculated in its planning.  On the other hand, global warming, climate change and the long periods of drought have prolonged the filling period of the dams putting in doubt their profitability and the continuation of their financing.  If we add this to the displacement of people, the alteration of ecosystems, the contribution to the greenhouse effect, the disappearance of not only fish but other animals and vegetation and even cultures and historical monuments, the decrease or almost disappearance of down-stream water and the effect on up-stream waters, and even the conversion of large territories into dry lands due to high salt concentrations, among other effects, we are necessarily compelled to reconsider large dams and in their place look for new electrical energy alternatives under a different model of development.

The La Parota dam will mean serious environmental deterioration due to deforestation along with an acceleration in the disappearance of the ground water supplying the port of Acapulco.  For these reasons, the people have stated that, “we will defend our lands because it is our heritage and we will not hand it over to the Federal Electricity Commission.”  The CFE conceals information and avoids consulting the people who will be affected and who state that the environmental impact studies carried out by the Autonomous University of Guadalajara (UAG) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) used biased parameters in the studies.  With the crisis in the countryside, with the growing population, where will the more than 20 000 people go?  To the United States?

This project has generated social movements in at least 10 places, demanding information that the government has refused to give.  In the month of October, 2003, the movement had only one demand:  Stop the hydroelectric project.  More than 3 000 campesinos began protests against the dam, prepared to die in defence of their lands and their communities.  “Not one step behind the La Parota dam” and “we are ready to die for the land” were some of the slogans supported by social, neighbourhood, taxi and university organizations and political party militants who joined in support of the campesinos to be affected by the project.  In a few weeks, more than 30 000 people protested in the city of Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state.  The protestors have blocked the entrance to the dam zone.  The government’s strategy was to create groups of provocateurs, to initiate the contracting of personnel for construction and to divide the population, informing them of the supposed “benefits” that the La Parota dam would bring.  Three months ago, people opposed to the project had a communal assembly, whose leaders were attempting to grant approval for the continuation of studies and the dam project and who were being protected by 50 “Preventive and Rural” police officers of the state of Guerrero, suspended.  Only 395 of the 7 825 community members sought to give their authorization.  After four hours of discussion and attempts at violence, it was decided to suspend the assembly.  Although machetes were not brandished, the situation continues to be tense.

The places and communities in resistance have managed to detain the machines that were beginning to make roads for the entrance and exit of material and construction equipment.  The CFE was asked to pay for the damages to the work underway and the people have managed to stop its advance.  The CFE has also been asked to pay the 46-year-old debt it owes for lands used for the construction of the La Venta dam which will now be totally covered by the La Parota.  Although 23 years have passed, it has not yet compensated the people affected by the construction of the El Caracol dam either, nor the people displaced by the Petacalco dam 20 years ago.  The Communities Against the La Parota Project Advisory Council stated that, “the ecological impact will be irreversible in our tropical jungles of the region.  We ask them to open their eyes and understand that it will not be progress but more poverty because the only thing generated will be more than 25 000 displaced peoples.”

The people of the ejidos (communal lands) and communities directly affected have called for a Resistance Camp for March 14^th, 2004, the International Day Against Dams and for the Defence of Rivers, Water and Life.  At this event, discussion and analysis tables regarding social, environmental deterioration related to the dams, human rights, etc. will be carried out.

The problem is world-wide.  In days past in Brazil, the National Movement of the Victims of Dams (MAB in Portuguese), denounced that 100 000 families were to be expelled from their lands due to 70 large dams planned for the next three years under the government of President Lula.  Presently in Brazil there are more than 2 000 dams that have provoked the displacement of one million people, the equivalent of 300 000 families; 34 000 km², the equivalent of 3.4 million hectares have been flooded, approximately half the territory of the state of Chiapas.  Hydroelectric dams in Brazil make up 89% of the energy of the country.  Just the same, 20 million people, the equivalent of 5 million homes, do not have electricity.  Meanwhile, the industries owned by foreigners proportionally pay 10 times less than the inhabitants do per megawatt of electrical energy.  The large majority of families that have been displaced from their lands to build dams have not received assistance for the forced relocation and 70% have not received any kind of compensation.

For the planet, rivers are like the circulation of blood in our bodies.  We must leave them free, to flow, to run, to give life.  The impact of their damming obliges us to build development alternatives that really are sustainable.  The effects of the dams affect us all, the people of the world, either directly or indirectly.  We need to generate a project of hope and life, not death and desolation at the expense of displacing people and increased human and environmental poverty.

Sources:  “The La Parota Hydroelectric Project of the State of Guerrero” by the Financed Investment Headquarters, a department under the Federal Electricity Commission’s (CFE) Construction Management, 2002; The International Rivers Network (IRN); Adital, March 5^th; MAB; “No to the La Parota Dam”, Communities Against the La Parota Project Advisory Council; “The La Parota Dam Project” and the “International Solidarity with the Campesinos of La Parota”, Rodolfo Chavez Galindo; the World Dams Commission report (www.dams.org);  the “El Sur” daily paper of Guerrero, October 30^th, 2003; the “El Sol de Acapulco” daily paper, November 17^th, 2003; the “La Jornada” newspaper, September 22^nd, 2003; and, the “El Expreso Chiapas” newspaper, August 16^th, 2002.

Note: If you wish to be placed on a list to receive this English version of the Bulletin, or the Spanish, or both, please direct a request to: ciepac@laneta.apc.org and indicate whether you wish to receive the bulletin in plain text or as a Word 7 for Windows 95 attachment.

Note: If you use this information, cite the source and our email address. We are grateful to the persons and institutions who have given us their comments on these Bulletins. CIEPAC, A.C. is a non-government and non-profit organization, and your support is necessary for us to be able to continue offering you this news and analysis service. If you would like to contribute, in any amount, we would infinitely appreciate your remittance to the bank account in the name of:

CIEPAC, A.C.
Bank: Banamex
Account number: 7049672 Sucursal 386
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México.
You will also need to use an ABA number:
BNMXMXMM

Thank you! CIEPAC

Telephone:
in México: 01 967 674 5168
from outside Mexico:: +52 967 674 5168