The opponents to the hydroelectric project funded by international organizations suffered persecutions, kidnappings, and some of them were even murdered, while the survivors, most of them Mayan indigenous people, continue without being compensated.

The communities affected by the floods of Chixoy River were left without their lands and live today in extreme conditions of poverty.

In 1980, a forced displacement process began to take place. This process was extremely damaging for six thousand families, according to information by International Rivers and the Legal Centre for Environmental Defense, organizations that have been advising the local population.

These groups demand that the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank pay compensations for the people affected. These institutions funded works promoted by military officers.

An independent study published in 2005 concludes that the dam was built “at the expense of lives, lands, local economies, national and international regulations, causing extreme poverty in the communities that used to live in a sustainable way”.

The environmentalist organizations are also gathering signatures to persuade Guatemalan authorities, especially President Alvaro Colom.

In October, 2005, the communities affected by Chixoy organized the 3rd Meeting of the Latin American Network Against Dams and for Rivers, Communities and Water, and presented their situation to tens of foreign activists. The thousands of Guatemalan people affected by this dam have filed different complaints, without receiving any answer.

Photo: Monti Aguirre, International Rivers