Mesoamerica / Campaigns

For more than twenty years, communities affected by the Chixoy Dam have demanded reparations for the damages caused by the project, which was built during Guatemala’s most repressive military dictatorship.

In 2003, the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission proposed the construction of La Parota Dam in the State of Guerrero. The 900 MW dam on the Papagayo River would flood close to 17,000 hectares of land and displace more than 25,000 people. An additional 75,000 people are expected to be affected by changes to the river ecosystem downstream of the dam. Major losses in fisheries could occur all the way downstream of the dam until the river’s delta at the Pacific Ocean.

Twenty large dams have already been built on Mexico’s rivers. Mexico boasts the highest dam in the Americas and the sixth largest dam in the world: the Chicoasén Dam in Chiapas State. Mexico’s dams have forcibly displaced more than 167,000 people. The Temascal Dam in Oaxaca displaced close to 25,000 Mazatec indigenous peoples, a nation that spoke 56 languages. Most were not compensated for their land and losses, and when they protested their homes were set on fire. Promises of electricity and irrigation were not met, and close to 200 displaced people died.

If built, waters from the Arcediano Dam may cause serious health problems for the more than three million people of Guadalajara City, the second largest city in Mexico. The 125 meter high water supply dam promoted by the Jalisco State Water Commission (CEAS) will store water from the highly polluted Santiago River, which is the recipient of large amounts of untreated domestic and industrial wastewaters.