News
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Ixil communities demand greater benefits from new hydroelectric dam
Central America Report
7/27/2007

. New hydroelectric dam will provide electricity for Guatemala's second largest city.. . .while nearby indigenous communities are left in the dark . Project revives long-standing campesino grievances over land rights The Ixil triangle in the highland department of Quiche, is one of the poorest and most isolated parts of the country. Indigenous villages in the area suffered some of the worst massacres committed during Guatemala's 36 year long civil war, and live in conditions of extreme poverty with no electricity, no access to potable water and a lack of basic services such as schools and health centers. When work began on a large hydroelectric dam in late 2006, local villages hoped they would finally have access to an affordable electricity service. However, they were soon disappointed when it became known that the new dam would supply Quetzaltenango, Guatemala's second largest city, while the Ixil triangle remains in the dark. The fact that the dam is being built on land that has been at the center of an acrimonious dispute between campesino villages and a wealthy land-owning family, has also stirred up long-standing grievances within the Ixil community. Powerful Interest Groups and a Century-Old Land Dispute. The Xacbal hydroelectric dam was the brainchild of the Arenas Menes family, owners of the coffee producing farm known as La Perla , in the municipality of San Gaspar Chajul, in the highland department of Quiche. As a result of declining coffee prices and a lack of adequate infrastructure, necessary to transport the farm's agricultural produce to urban areas, the Arenas Menes family realized that agriculture had ceased to be a profitable business. However, with a growing demand for electric energy threatening to outstrip the available supply by 2008, alternative energy had become a lucrative business and in 2001, the Arenas Menes family carried out an environmental impact study necessary for the construction of a hydroelectric dam next to the Xalbal River. However, the owners of La Perla soon realized that a century-old land dispute with nearby campesino villages would be a major obstacle for the project to go ahead and decided to sell part of the farm to Hidro Xacbal, S.A., in 2004. Hidro Xacbal is part of the Honduran Terra conglomerate, which has a vast portfolio of multi-million dollar investments in oil, telecommunications, infrastructure, real estate and services. Second generation Palestinian immigrant, Fredy Nasser, owner of the Terra conglomerate, is one of the most powerful businessmen in Honduras. The total cost of the dam, due to be completed by 2010, will total US$227 million and the project will be financed by a pool of local and international banks. But even though part of La Perla was sold off and the dam is now managed by a Hidro Xacbal, neighboring Ixil villages still demand that the conflict over of the boundaries of La Perla be resolved. In May this year, the National Coordinator of Indigenous and Campesino Organizations (CONIC), issued the following statement: "The dam is being built on land that was stolen from our communities. The mayor of Chajul, Manuel Asicona, made a deal with Hidro Xacbal behind our backs. The company is trying to bribe people by giving them land but the land where the dam is being built was stolen from our ancestors," which shows that this unresolved land dispute is still a highly contentious issue. Communities Demand Their Share of the Benefits. Most villages in San Gaspar Chajul live in extreme poverty and lack potable water and electricity. The closest electric generator is located in the municipality of Sacapulas, around 50km away, and the service provided is poor, highly overpriced and does not cover any of the Ixil villages beyond the town of Chajul. The civil society umbrella group Mesa Regional Ixil, which brings together 36 indigenous organizations, believes it is ironic that the electricity produced by the Xacbal hydroelectric dam will be transported all the way to the department of Quetzaltenango, when the villages surrounding the dam lack this basic service. Indigenous leaders have asked Hidro Xacbal to build a generator in Chajul so that all the villages in the Ixil triangle have access to affordable electricity. However, Hidro Xacbal have refused, arguing that it would not be financially viable for the company to provide electricity for dozens of remote villages dotted all over the Ixil triangle. Hidro Xacbal CEO, Erwin Hernandez, told CAR : "Although we cannot provide electricity for all the villages in the Ixil triangle, what we can do is set up a small generator that will supply electricity to around ten villages close to the dam. It will be a great opportunity for progress to take off." Hernandez added that the government and not a private corporation should be responsible for the provision of electricity in the Ixil triangle. A few years ago, the government launched a "Rural Electrification Program" that aimed to provide electricity for all villages in rural Guatemala. However, progress has been slow and many indigenous areas have yet to see any benefits. Another point of contention between Hidro Xacbal and the Ixil communities is the construction of a dirt track needed to transport materials to and from the dam, which runs through a number of indigenous villages. According to Ixil leaders, Hidro Xacbal has failed to stick to the environmental impact study approved by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) in April 2002, which features a 5km track that does not run through indigenous villages. Indigenous communities argue that they were not consulted before the track was built and that Hidro Xacbal has failed to pay adequate compensation for thir land. According to community leaders, the families affected received a paltry Q3,000 (US$390) compensation. However, Hidro Xacbal claims that Ixil communities demanded Q5,000 (US$652) per square meter, far above the price of the land, which the company was unable to meet. According to Hidro Xacbal, between 350 and 400 families have been adequately compensated according to the market value of their land. The company is also eager to emphasize that thanks to the new road the Ixil villages are finally overcoming their isolation and points out that it donated US$.2.2 million donation to the municipality of Chajul for a series of development projects including electricity for schools and health centers. However, indigenous leaders claim the municipal authorities have not allowed them to inspect the town hall accounts to find out how exactly the money has been spent and say their communities have yet to benefit from the donation. Manuel Asicona Rivera, mayor of Chajul has been accused of corruption on several occasions during his time in office. However, Asicona denies fraud allegations and claims his opponents are trying to discredit him "for political motives". The organizations grouped together under the Mesa Regional Ixil, say they have been excluded from the community meetings with Hidro Xacbal representatives, even though the central government signed an agreement in 2006 acknowledging this civil society umbrella group as a valid representative of the Ixil communities. However, Hidro Xacbal insists that the road was built with the approval of all village mayors in Chajul. Mayor Asicona Rivera, who sides with the company, argues that municipalities are autonomous, according to Guatemalan law, and that the municipality of Chajul is therefore not bound to negotiate with the Mesa Regional Ixil despite the agreement signed by the central government. On June 15, this year, the government invited Ixil leaders and Hidro Xacbal representatives to attend a meeting on June 15, hoping to reach a consensus between the two parties. However, on June 22, the government postponed the meeting "until further notice." The Ixil people and their representatives now fear that with an election looming in September, their grievances will be swept under the carpet or simply forgotten. A history of conflict and violence In 1896, La Perla , a large coffee growing farm, had an extension of 990 hectares . Over the years, the Arenas Menes family, owners of La Perla , began to encroach on community-owned lands and according to the Presidential Commission for the Resolution of Land Disputes (CONTIERRA), the farm now has an extension of 2,790 hectares . However, official figures underestimate the true size of La Perla . It 's true size is closer to 5,850 hectares , whereas the average family in the neighboring villages barely owns around 0,5 hectares of land. According to the Guatemalan land registry, around 2,219 hectares of La Perla ought to belong to the Sotzil and Ilom villages. This means that the 405 indigenous families living in Ilom should own 3.5 hectares of land and 195 Sotzil families should own over 4.1 hectares . However, indigenous communities cannot even use the land that is rightfully theirs according to official records. According to the Recuperation of Historic Memory report (known as REMHI in Spanish and titled, Guatemala: Never Again), during Guatemala's 36-year-long civil war, 263 massacres were perpetrated against residents of Quiche, as a result of the State's brutal genocidal policy that came to be known as the "Scorched Earth" campaign, carried out mostly during the first half of the 1980s. The villages of Chel and Ilom, a few miles away from the Xacbal hydroelectric dam, suffered some of the worst massacres committed during the war. In Chel alone, 96 people were killed.