Chiapas: National Meeting of the Mexican Movement of those Affected by Dams in Defense of Rivers (MAPDER)

From 10 to 13 March was held the 8th National Meeting of the Mexican Movement of those Affected by Dams in Defense of Rivers (MAPDER) in the municipality of Huitiupán, in northern Chiapas.  Attending the meeting were 441 indigenous delegates from a dozen Mexican states as well as representatives of organizations from Guatemala that also struggle against the construction of dams in their country.  The meeting concluded with a march of more than 500 people in the settlement of Simojovel, a municipality that neighbors Huitiupán.

The meeting’s final declaration reports that the residents of more than 30 communities and of the town of Huitiupán have declared themselves to be in civil resistance until the project of constructing two hydroelectric dams  in the municipalities of Itzantún and Chinín be cancelled; these are projects that they claim the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) plans to re-initiate after 26 years.  They also denounced that, if these projects were to be permitted, some 11,800 hectares would be lost, with the residents of between 30 and 35 indigenous communities subsequently losing their lands.  The plan would also affect dozens of communities from six neighboring municipalities that benefit from the Santa Catarina River.

The assembled also rejected the construction of the Tenosique dam (Boca del Cerro) in Tabasco, all those planned to be constructed on the Usumacinta River, in addition to La Parota in Guerrero, Paso de la Reina in Oaxaca, and Las Cruces in Nayarit.  They also requested reparations for those affected by projects in Jalisco, Nayarit, Oaxaca, and Sinaloa.

For more information (in Spanish):

Anuncian ONG resistencia civil contra embalses, (La Jornada, 14 March 2011)

Exigen cancelar proyecto a CFE (Cuarto-Poder, 14 March 2011)

14 de marzo, Guadalajara se suma a día internacional contra represas, (Milenio, 14 March 2011)

No más presas hidroeléctricas en Chiapas: Comunidades de la zona Norte, (Chacatorex, 12 March 2011)

Seguirán rechazando a la represa Itzantún, (Cuarto-Poder, 1 March 2011)

Exigen cancelar obras hidroeléctricas (Proceso, 14 March)

DECLARACIÓN DE HUITIUPÁN: Aprobada en el VIII Encuentro del Movimiento Mexicano de Afectados por las Presas y en Defensa de los Ríos (MAPDER) (14 March 2011)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Regional Forum in Defense of the Land, the Territory and Natural Resources held in Ejido Costa Rica, frontier municipality of Comalapa (9 March 2011)

Chiapas: pilgrimage against “death projects” (3 December 2010)