Chiapas: the International Day against Dams is celebrated

San Cristóbal de Las Casas @ SIPAZ

On 14 March was celebrated the Internatinal Day of Action against Dams and for Rivers, Water, and Life in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, to reiterate the “total rejection of hydroelectric dams in the state of Chiapas and throughout the country,” as expressed the organizing groups MAPDER Chiapas, Otros Mundos Chiapas, and Friends of the Earth. “It is now known that this type of infrastructure is not sustainable environmentally, economically, or socially, and that it generates grand profits for a handful of people, destroying rivers, harming the majority of us, and directly affecting indigenous and campesino communities who have their human rights violated with the imposition of these projects,” indicates MAPDER’s communiqué.

“In the present case of our state, we demand the definitive cancellation of the 5 dam projects that the Federal Electricity Commission has planned for the rivers Usumacinta, Boca del Cerro, Tenosique, Tabasco, and the other four on the Guatamela-Mexico border,” as was read during the day by MAPDER Chiapas, as supported by the organization Otros Mundos Chiapas. Continuing, they noted that “We express at the same time our total rejection of the planned dam Chicoasén II that is planned for the Grijalva river. This waterway is already an example of one that has been destroyed by large dams, so the new project will only bring with it more environmental degradation to the region, displacing people who were previously affected by Chicoasen I.”

Other organizations at the event read their communiqués, including some members of Las Abejas of Acteal, who expressed that “The Guardians of Mother Earth, who are we of Las Abejas say: the land, water, energy, rivers, the lakes that Western people know as natural resources, which we call Mother Earth, are not for sale, because these are not commodities. For this reason they cannot be used as we would desire, as they are not objects or products for profit-making, though rich Western people see them in this way. In the earth they see riches and for this reason they exploit it to make wealth.”

For more information (in Spanish):

14 de marzo en San Cristóbal de Las Casas: Día Mundial contra las Represas (Otros Mundos Chiapas, 14 de marzo de 2012)

Comunicado Las Abejas 14 de marzo de 2012 (Blog Las Abejas de Acteal, 14 de marzo de 2012)

Exige el Mapder la cancelación de proyectos de presas (Cencos, 15 de marzo de 2012)

Página Web de MAPDER

Día Internacional de Acción Contra las Represas (Proyecto Ambulante, 10 de marzo de 2012)

Día internacional de lucha contra las presas, por los ríos, el agua y la vida (Pozol Colectivo, 13 de marzo de 2012)

Hoy: día de la lucha contra las presas, por los ríos, el agua y la vida(Centro ProDH, 14 de marzo de 2012)

Actividades del Movimiento Mexicano de Afectados por las Presas y en Defensa de los Ríos (Mapder) por el 14 de marzo, con motivo del Día internacional de lucha contra las presas, por los ríos, el agua y la vida(Zapateando, 12 de marzo de 2012)

Convocatoria a marcha – caminata Por la Libertad, la Justicia y el Desarrollo 140312-1 (Movimiento Campesino Regional Independiente-MOCRI CNPA MN)

Audio and video:

14 de marzo, el Mapder en lucha… (Koman Ilel, 14 de marzo de 2012)