A new essay by Ron Canter on the Soconusco trails (water and land) between present-day Chiapas and the Guatemalan Highlands. These were major trade routes in Classic Maya times. Click below for the full essay.

Soconusco Road - The “Low Road”

The Soconusco Road is a major trade route that needs notice even
though outside the highlands themselves. It was actually two parallel
routes, one by land and one by water. The coastal plain, averaging 16 to
20 km wide, slopes gently from the foot of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas
[Siera de Soconusco] to the Pacific Ocean. A series of swamps and coastal
lagoons lie behind barrier islands.
A very ancient trail followed the littoral from the Ismuth of
Tehuantepec to the Guatemalan Highlands. In the dry season the way was
easy (Diaz, 1568). The route stayed on dry, level ground between swamp and
mountain. At large rivers the path swerved inland to cross above the
deeper channels near the coast. Smaller rivers were frequent, so travelers
could satisfy their thirst. In the wet season rivers large and small
swelled and became difficult (Navarrete, 1978). The way became a series of
soggy paths and risky fords. But there was an alternative.
Canoe travel offshore is too dangerous anywhere near the Ismuth of
Tehuantepec, where the Trade Winds funnel through a wide gap in the ranges.
The Pacific is scoured by violent offshore windstorms. Today the coastal
lagoons are not continuous, and offer no protected passage behind the
barrier islands. But it was not always so.
As late as the beginning of the 20th century, a series of canals
linked all the coastal lagoons to form a sheltered waterway running behind
the coast from Juchitan to Guatemala. “The natives of the towns
communicate with one another by means of drains and canals that they open
in the marshes to make such a network that one could get lost in it if he
should attempt to navigate them without a knowledgeable native” as Fray
Tomas Torres described them (Navarrete, 1978). Dana and Ginger Lamb
followed ingrown segments of it on their canoe trip along the Pacific Coast
(Lamb 1938). They too completely avoided the open sea, but were forced to
make several portages where canals had closed up.
In the past each town had its port on the nearest lagoon or channel.
Torres also noted that, for some products, canoe transport through
Sosonusco had a great advantage. “Another important product was Guatemalan
and Oaxacan pottery, whose transport by animals was very risky due to the
fragile nature” (Navarrete, 1978). When the canal system was completed is
not clear, but it was already well established when the Spanish arrived.
Its vestiges are still there in the swamps, waiting to be mapped.
Though longer than several routes to Guatemala via the highlands, the
Soconusco Road was fast, avoided mountain crossings, and was overall very
competitive with other routes. Once the lagoons were linked by canals, the
canoe trail became arguably the most efficient route in Mesoamerica. Not
one portage or rapid interrupted it. New ideas appear to have leapt along
it from the Olmec Gulf Coast region to Izapa, Takalik Abaj, and Kaminalyuju
in the Guatemalan highlands. In addition, the coastal plain was a major
cacao growing region. The Soconusco Road is still heavily used today by
legitimate traffic, and by transmigrantes, because it is a level route
appealing to truckers, walkers, or cyclists.

Bernal Diaz de Castillo
1568 The True History of the Conquest of Mexico, translated by Maurice
Keating, Esq., 1800 London, reprinted 1938, Robert M. McBride & Co.

Dana Lamb
1938 Enchanted Vagabonds, Harper & Brown

Carlos Navarrete
1978 Prehispanic System of Communication between Chiapas and Tabasco.
Mesoamerican Routes and Contacts, Paper #34 NWAF, Brigham Young Univ,
Provo, UT

(Latest notes from Ron Canter)

RIO TZACONEJA [Tzajalob] – approx. 24 km, in two segments, may be navigable

Though the river is all whitewater in its several canyons, two
sections of the Rio Tzaconeja may have been navigable in the past. The
headwaters were not. They funnel into fault-controlled Encajonado Huistan,
which runs straight east for 30 km to Cerro Chajlib. In the last 10 km
from Naranjal to the Altamirano bridge, Class 3 and 4 rapids are frequent,
with a couple of portages at bad spots (Mayan Whitewater, 2010).

At the bridge, the river enters a large valley, which stretches east
40 km to Bambu, near the Rio Soledad. It is the counterpart of the valley
of the Rio Jatate Superior, to the north just over the ridge of the Sierra
Corralchen. The Tzaconeja valley does not have a known site corresponding
to Tonina, the major Maya ruin in the Jatate’s valley.
For about 9 km from the Altamirano bridge to another bridge at
Pimienta, the Rio Tzaconeja is flat, a short navigable segment. There are
sandbars on bends. At Pimienta the upper valley abruptly ends. 13 km
after exiting one canyon, the river enters another of sorts, where the
elevation of the valley floor steps down 360 m in 7 km. The river is
pinched in a tight, ever-deepening gorge between two parallel ridges. The
gradient of up to 150 m/km (500 ft/mi) indicates waterfalls rather than
rapids, and that is what the river holds (Mayan Whitewater, 2010).
A step where a river crosses a resistant rock layer or a fault scarp
is not surprising, but one midway in a limestone valley is. The falls
appear to be actively receding, The obvious geological explanation would be
that the river once flowed serenely at a higher level before a tributary of
the Rio Jatate breached the eastern ridge and captured the river. The much
lower Jatate would have become the new base level for the Tzaconeja.
Erosion would then progressive lower the valley floor to the new local base
level, leaving remnants of the former valley to either side at the
1100-1200 m level. Modern roads follow these terraces rather than the
valley floor. Where a former high-level outlet might have been is not
clear. Possibly the river joined the Rio Soledad to exit through the dry
gorge at the head of the Rio Dolores. It is also not out of the question
that the water flowed northwest, and then north, to join the upper Jatate
above Tonina.
The Rio Soledad is part of the puzzle. It too has a huge descent,
Salto Grande, where it tumbles 500 meters into the Tzaconeja valley at
Bambu. If the valleys were not so remote, both canyons and falls would be
major attractions.
The Tzaconeja’s next segment is reported to be flatwater for about 24
km. On Google Earth the first 9 km appear to have occasional rapids. Only
the 15 km from Chiptic to the mouth of the Rio Soledad appear to actually
be flatwater (Mayan Whitewater). In the 4 km from the Soledad to the
hammock bridge at Bambu, the Tzaconeja is braided and choked with sediment
from its tributary.
In the lower valley is the Tzajalob site (Blom, 1953), located on the
right shore about 3 km south-southwest of Venustiano Carranza. The John
Geddings Gray Memorial Expedition investigated a cruciform tomb here in
1928 (Blom, 1954). From the description, it was most likely from the
Classic. Whether there were other ruins is unclear. The tomb is at about
the midpoint of the extended valley, and near the start of the lower
navigable section.
The easiest trail exit from the Tzaconeja valley is not at the east
end, where it funnels into a canyon, but rather 10 km earlier at El
Triunfo. A pass in the Sierra Corralchen leads into the valley of the Rio
Colorado at San Marcos, and joins the route from Tonina to the Rio Jatate
at Topiltepec.
Where the valley pinches to an end about 6 km below the Rio Soledad
junction, the Tzaconeja cuts through a mountain for 5 km. The rapids start
right at the bridge in Bambu. With a gradient of 15 m/km, the Tzaconja has
pool-and-drop Class 5 to 5+ rapids in the Lower Canyon (Mayan Whitewater,
2010).
Down the Tzaconeja only a few km more, there is another, shorter
canyon, with waterfalls four km upstream of the Rio Colorado junction (The
Colorado itself is nothing but rapids and falls for 7 km upstream). Just
below the Rio Colorado is the village of Romulo Calzada, with road access.
The last 2 km of the Tzaconeja surges through a final gorge before joining
the Rio Jatate at the Topiltepec site, near Sultana.

RIO SOLEDAD [Indepencia] – Not remotely navigable in the past
A tributary of the Rio Tzaconeja, the Rio Soledad is too small and
steep to have been navigable. It runs southeast, and then turns to the
north around the peak of Montana Chac (2050m). The Soledad begins as a
small river in a broad valley with a floor at 1200 to 1300 meters in
elevation. The little river has sandbars and mild rapids as far as
Indepencia, where it drops over two waterfalls and begins its descent.
The upper valley is a hanging valley, 500 m higher than that of the
Tzaconeja where they join. For 10 km the Soledad tumbles down the Salto
Grande through a red walled canyon (Blom, 1953). The barren canyon walls
are very actively eroding. At the exit a huge, braided outwash fan extends
for 3 km to the Rio Tzaconeja.
East of Indepencia, the wide, nearly flat valley of the upper Soledad
continues at 1200 m, only there is no river in the valley. Southeast 11 km
from Indepencia is the head of a winding gorge leading to the upper Rio
Dolores, a tributary of the Rio Santo Domingo. The 10 km long gorge is now
dry, but was obviously once a stream course. The Soledad formerly drained
south through the gorge, but its waters have been captured and diverted
north to the much lower Rio Tzaconeja.
There is a chain of Maya sites down the Soledad valley: Puerto Rico,
El Amparto, and Santa Elena Poco Uinic. Largest is the Late Classic Santa
Elena Poco Uinic site, perched on a promontory bounded by the canyon (MARI,
1940, Mathews, 2009). It has architectural ties to Chinkultic and Tenam
Puente 40 km father south. To the west of the canyon, a trail descended,
and then sidled along the much larger valley of the Tzaconeja.
The sites and passes suggest that the Soledad valley would have been
something of a crossroads in the Classic, a pathway to any of several
routes southeast to the Rio Santo Domingo. On the east side is a pass to
the upper Rio Euseba valley. At the southeast end of the Soledad valley, a
pass slides past Cerro El Calvario to the Rio Caliente’s valley.

Ron Canter 6-22-10

Bulletin 303: The Hydroelectric Megaprojects of the PPP - Dams for Chiapas! - (Second Part)

This dates back to the beginning of my involvement in the dam issue, and the beginning of this blog. But I don't think I ever posted it. Thanks to Ron Canter for bringing it to my attention.

Guatemala has requested that the U.S. lift the embargo on military aid that has been in place since the 80's. They emphasize that they are not asking for arms, but for vehicles like fast boats with which they could patrol and intercept narcotraffickers.

elPeriódico de Guatemala » País » Guatemala pide levantamiento de embargo militar a EE.UU.

Ron Canter continues his study of Maya watersheds with an important article on the Grijalva River, which begins near the Guatemala border, winds through the States of Chiapas, and Tabasco, to join with the Usumacinta and empty into the Gulf of Mexico. It has long since been exploited for hydroelectric power, drowning innumerable and now unknowable ancient settlements. It is a hint of what could happen if the Usumacinta dams are ever built.

Ron's full article can be read by clicking "More". The photo above shows the Grijalva, at the site of San Isidro, in 1981 as the river is rising due to new dams.

The Grijalva River [Mezcalapa, Kandelumihi,Tabasco, Rio Grande de Chiapas]

The head of navigation on the Rio Grande de Chiapas [Rio Grijalva]
was at the junction of the Rios San Miguel and San Gregorio (Navarrete,
1978). Before the dams, the Rio Grijalva had long navigable segments
connected by portage trails past canyon rapids. For mountain trails, the
portages were not so bad – moderate climbs and descents. The river route
from the coastal lowlands to deep within the highlands would have been a
good alternative to the High Road farther east. Of the 360 km of river and
trail from the junction to Amaciote, where the river leaves the mountains,
only about 70 km was by land. 80% was navigable river, a low-cost route
from the middle of a semi-desert to the lush coastal plains. It began as
an Olmec trade route, possibly the first to penetrate the interior of the
Highlands of Chiapas, and was later rivaled for efficiency by only the
Usumacinta.
So much of the Grijalva trade system has been lost by the damming of
the river. Of the original 290 km navigable, only 70 km remain nearly as
they were. Four dams have flooded the rest. That the major features of
this river and portage route can be sketched at all is largely due to the
efforts of Lee, Navarrete, and Lowe in the 1960s and 70s. The Grijalva is
what the Usumacinta valley would look like today, if the planned dams had
been built - ancient cities gone, details of the river route forever
unclear, but lots of hydro power.
Travelers ascending the Rio Grijalva [Mezcalapa] would have traversed
the compound delta westward through the Chontalpa for approx 240 km from
Frontera to Amaciote at the foot of the Skinalel Tolja, the ”Watery
Mountains” of the Chiapas Higlands. After ascending the river to
Amacoite, there were two ways to enter the highlands in the Colonial
period. One was to continue upriver for 80 km through the ranges, against
current and occasional rapids, to foot of the Raudales de Malpaso, which
were unrunnable (Lowe, 1981). With the flow regime completely altered and
the riverbed now invisible, the locations of runnable rapids, their
difficulty, their relation to sites, and to seasonal navigation are all
lost. The Malpaso portage trail followed a dry valley, the site of the
modern town of Raudales, on the west side of the river to flatwater in the
Mal Paso Basin [Middle Grijalva Basin] above the present-day dam. In the
wet season the portage may have been as little as 4 km. The basin is now
flooded by the Embalsa de Netzahuatlcoyotl, and the river approach drowned
under the Presa Penitas.
In the lush Mal Paso Basin, the Rio Grijalva, formerly called the
Kandelumihi, was literally lined with sites east to the foot of the
Sumidero Canyon. There were over 60 along both the Rios La Venta and the
Grijalva, all now gone.
The Rio La Venta was probably navigable to the west for some
distance, where a trail from the headwaters of the Rio Tonala could have
joined through a pass 8 km north. The Rio Playas appears to be navigable,
with no rapids - only sandbars, from the Preclassic sites of Ceiba Grande
and Pueblo Viejo, which are 30 km by trail from the Mal Paso Basin. This
would have been a direct route from La Venta, a major Olmec site in the
coastal plain, into the Mal Paso Basin via the Rios Tonala and Playas.
The Grijalva itself was navigable for at least 35 km from the Rio La
Venta upstream to Quechula [Cachula], a river port in colonial times (Lee,
1978). About 6 km downstream of Quechula was the largest site in the
region, San Isidro, dating from the Middle Preclassic to the Late Classic.
Its excavation was a hectic salvage effort, from mid-March 1966 until the
waters of the reservoir spread over it forever in June. Its flooding was a
tremendous loss. Mound 20, a circular pyramid with attached structures
oriented northwest-southeast, yielded exceptional burials and caches with
clear Olmec connections. Two parallel “I”-shaped ball courts shared the
same end zones, a unique design (Lowe, 1981).
The other trail from the Rio Grijalva to Quechula was the Tecpatan
Shortcut, which started in the lowlands at Amacoite and followed the foot
of the mountains east before climbing south over several high ridges to
Tecpatan (Lee, 1978). A descent led back to the river at Quechula [Cachula
]. The route avoided all swiftwater and rapids, but at the expense of much
up and down on mountain trails.
To bypass the Sumidero Canyon upstream, with impassable rapids, and
falls up to 17 meters high pinched between 1000 meter cliffs, colonial
trails from Quechula crossed the river to the south shore. In the Classic
and earlier, the trail would have begun at San Isidro, the ancient port
city. Trails to the southeast were easier than ones through the higher,
more extended ranges north of the river. A trail did exist north of the
river by way of Chicoasen to Chiapa de Corzo, but was not a major one in
colonial times. Only 30 km of mountains separate Quechula and San
Fernando, at the head of a flat valley, versus 75 km of precipitous trails
between Tecpatan and Chiapa de Corzo. As late as the mid-1960s, the only
approaches to Los Altos de Chiapas were still a choice of either rapid
river or muddy trail.
On the south side of the river from Quechula, the colonial trail
split. One branch went over the mountain south to Ocozocuatla, east
through Tuxtla, and then to Chiapa de Corzo. The other branch headed
southeast to cross the Rio Achilote, top the ridge just before San
Fernando, and follow the Valley of Tuxtla down to Chiapa de Corzo. The
second branch is the line of least effort, and probably the ancient
portage. From San Isidro by trail to Chiapa de Corzo via San Fernando
would have been about 65 km.
At the time of Spanish contact at end of the Late Postclassic, the
trail from Quechula to Chiapas was not used. When Captain Marin invaded
Chiapas in 1524 they first went to a town called Tezpuztlan and then
“continued our route to another town called Cachula from whence we
proceeded, there being no passage previous to our expedition, from the fear
the other natives have of those of Chiapas” (Diaz, 1568). This is one
documented instance where a past major route was bypassed in the Late
Postclassic for non-geographic reasons. Trade avoids danger.
Where the river again becomes navigable was the ancient Olmec/Zoquean
city of Chiapa de Corzo [Chiapa, Chiapa de Los Indios], founded around 1400
BC. It flourished until 900 AD, stumbled in the general collapse, but
recovered. At its zenith it was a sprawling city of talud-tablero step
pyramids on massive platforms. The Chiapan Maya wrested it from the Zoque
in 1400 AD. At the time of Spanish contact “a city it might truly be
called, from the regularity of its streets and houses. It contained not
less than 4000 families” (Diaz, 1568). At a nexus of major routes between
both coasts and highlands, the city had an enviable trade location. From
here a colonial trail went north through a gap in the wall of Los Altos and
then climbed east, 1800 m in 40 km, to San Cristobal de Las Casas [Jovel].
Another went west via Cintalapa and the exposed, windswept crest trail on
Mount Maquilapa (Gage, 1648) to Tapanatepec on the Pacific littoral [
Soconosco].
The Grijalva, here called the Rio Grande de Chiapas [Kandelumihi], is
today canoeable from Chiapa de Corzo for another 70 km upstream to the
vicinity of Belisario Dominguez. “About midnight, ten chieftains of the
neighboring districts came down the river, which is very broad and deep, in
five canoes” (Diaz, 1568). Even though the Central Depression of Chiapas
is a semi-desert, the river receives its water from the highlands to the
north and south. The gradient between Chiapa de Corzo and Belisario is a
low 0.2 m/km (1 ft/mi). The river has no rapids, though there are sandbars
in the dry season. A little over halfway up the river, on the north shore,
is the Villa de Acala (Spangaya for “Village of Canoes”), with a Classic
Period site across the river. A few km upstream is the Preclassic Santa
Cruz site.
Either the Finca Amatl, or the Angosturo site close to Belisario
Dominguez, may have been a port. A modern trail climbs northeast up the
long slope of an old lava flow past Cerro Mispia to a break in the wall of
the highlands at San Isidro Chijilte. A trail east from Belisario would
have hugged the foot of the highlands before climbing to Comitan [Balun
Canan]. At intervals, streams tumble out of the mountains and furnish
drinking water.
Above Belisario the river exits Angostura Canyon, now plugged by the
Presa La Angostura, feeding CFE hydros. The 12 km winding gorge is
shadowed by cliffs. Navarrete makes no mention of serious rapids or
portages, but his information was second-hand. It seems likely that it was
navigable. This is far from certain, and probably will remain so.
Above the canyon, the gradient was low, and there was much more
navigable river, all the way upstream 100 km to the confluence of the Rios
San Miguel and San Gregorio, where the river was 26 meters wide and 5
meters deep in the channel (Navarrete, 1978). Northeast 45 km is the Quen
Santo pilgrimage site, dating from the Preclassic, and 30 km east-southeast
are the ruins of Classic Period Lagarteros, on an island in the Lagunas de
Colon. The head of navigation lies at the foot of the Guatemalan
highlands, so the Grijalva offered a direct, easy way to tap the resources
of the Cuchumatanes.
With the whole valley flooded by the Embalsa de Belisario Dominguez
[Angostura], all details of this upper reach are beyond recovery. Over 20
sites are underwater, including Preclassic Santa Rosa and Laguna Francesca.
The Argelia and San Felipe sites were very near the head of navigation, and
one of the two was probably the port (Witschey map). A rectangular
structure is visible in the shallows just north of the confluence of the
Rios San Miguel and San Gregorio. It may be ancient San Felipe, or it may
be Spanish.
The greatest loss along the upper Grijalva was the site of the
Salinas de La Concordia [Custepeques, San Pedro de Las Salinas], centered
10 km south of the river in the Valley of Custepeques. Since the area is
semi-desert in the rain shadow of the Chiapas Highlands, solar evaporation
worked well, at least in the dry season. The 27 springs, seven salt works,
and attendant structures (Andrews, 1983) are all drowned under the
reservoir. From the Middle Preclassic to the 20th century, the salinas
sent pink salt out in several directions. Historically, some went east
across the highlands into the Usumacinta basin (Andrews, 1983) but more
traveled down the Rio Grijalva to the coast and westward. It is unlikely
that any went south to the Pacific coast, which had its own salt
operations.

Connections from the head of the Grijalva:
North-northeast to Chinkultic, then east via the Rios Santo Domingo &
Jatate into the Miramar basin.
Northeast to Quen Santo and Chacula to either the Miramar basin or into the
Cuchumatanes.
Southeast via Lagarteros into the Guatemalan highlands.
South-southwest through a pass to Escuintla and the Soconusco Road along
the Pacific littoral.

From the Cuchumatanes to La Venta:
A chain of Preclassic sites begins at the western foot of the
Cuchumatanes and extends down the Rio Grijalva into the Mal Paso Basin.
The list includes: Chacula, Quen Santo, Laguna Francesca, Santa Rosa, Santa
Cruz, Chiapa, and San Isidro. A pass to the northwest connects the Mal
Paso Basin to the headwaters of the Rio Playas. At the head of navigation
on the Playas are two Preclassic sites, Ceiba Grande and Pueblo Viejo. The
Rio Playas leads to the Rio Tancochapa, which in turn joins the Rio Tonala
less than 20 km from the Olmec city of La Venta. The overall distance from
Chacula to La Venta was roughly 540 km, of which 20% (120 km) was by land
and 80% by river (and most of that flatwater). The route from Chacula to
La Venta is as close to a straight line as a river road can get, and is
interrupted by only two portages. It was both a very ancient and very
efficient route.

Ron Canter, 1-22-10

5 million pesos does not seem like much to clean up pollution and trash in the river, but it's better than nothing. The Usumacinta drains an enormous area of Guatemala and Mexico, getting contamination from trash and agricultural chemicals along the way.

Invertirán más de 5 mdp al Cañón del Usumacinta

Friend ALonso Mendez just sent a dispatch from Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, where in the last 20 days an enormous "algae bloom" (actuallu mats of cyanobacteria) has covered much of the lake. It is a problem that has been coming for a long time, due to human sewage problems and neglect and corruption among the officials charged with improving the treatment plants.

Guatemala News | Guatemalas Lake Atitlan disaster, the explanation

They have come a long way but still need your help. Every donation will be matched by a challenge grant they have received.

Hospitalito Atitlan

Story of Alpacka packrafts, like the one I had until we were robbed on the Usumacinta. But that's a long story. I did buy a new one. Great fun.

River Lite - Floats Great, Less Filling - NYTimes.com

Interesting blog post, via Karen Bassie.

Advocacy Project Blogs - Chixoy: A Mirror for Xalalá

Hostage house in Compton an example of the increasing dangers for illegal immigrants - Los Angeles Times

La Jornada: Ejidatarios de Oaxaca se alistan para luchar contra presa de CFE

It was a bad idea to start with - completing the highway between Tabasco, Mexico, and Flores, Peten, Guatemala. Supposed to generate tourism between Palenque and Tikal, it gave drug smugglers a landing strip and others easy access to settle protected areas. Now both governments have shut the El Ceibo crossing to people and vehicles.

Rumbo de México - Editorial Mac - Cierra Guatemala frontera con Tabasco, en El Ceibo

Some of the illegal settlers in the Sierra del Lacandon Park, Guatemala, have left peacefully. Few details are available so far.

Prensa Libre - Edición electrónica - Portada

Latin American Herald Tribune - Archaeologists Excavate Ancient Maya River Port in Southeast Mexico

Chris Shaw's spectacular canoe trip on the Dordogne - his story in the Times today.

In the Dordogne, Canoeing Into Prehistory - NYTimes.com

The Inspiration of Xalala - Part 1 | International Rivers

...was last Saturday, but the Lower Eastside Girls Club and Club Balam were way ahead of the pack, doing their action on the Usumacinta on February 16th. Video is on the way, here's a photo from that day, and the page at International Rivers.

2009: Mesoamerica | International Rivers

Ron Canter sent in this update on the emabattled Xalala dam on the Chixoy River in Guatemala. An excerpt:

Cancelled twice before, the proposed 82-meter-high Xalalá Dam proposed for Northern
Guatemala found no bidders on its third try in early November. A number of prominent
companies – including US firms AES International and Duke Energy, the Brazilian firm Odebrecht,
and others – purchased the project bidding rules, but none offered a proposal for the estimated $400 million project.

International Rivers - December update (pdf)

A Mexico-Guatemala conference on the border region, particularly Tabasco-Peten. They affirm that the time for words is over, now is the time for action. Followed by a lot of nice words. No mention of dam plans, a nod towards protection of the ecosystem.

...el mandatario explicó que el valor estratégico es como zona de seguridad para combatir a la delincuencia organizada, el tráfico de armas, mercancías y la trata de personas.

Asimismo es la región se considera centro logístico para la industria turística y comercio internacional además como reserva de la biodiversidad fundamental para el continente americano.

Talk of creating a business zone similar to the northern border with the U.S.

Impulsar el comercio transfronterizo; crear centros de negocios en ambos lados de las fronteras; establecer la estrategia para el control de la tuberculosis bovina; armonizar los marcos jurídicos de los estados de la región en materia de medio ambiente y de desarrollo económico, así como implementar el programa de desarrollo de la frontera sur como se hizo con la frontera norte de México.

Inaugura AGM Foro Binacional Ríos-Petén

TabascoHOY.com :: Cautiva Tenosique a Hugo Stiglitz

Y es que seguro de promover la riqueza natural del lugar, declaró haber encontrado mas de lo que esperaba al recorrer toda la zona del río San Pedro, Usumacinta, y la boca del cerro.

Mexican film star Hugo Stiglitz will visit Tabasco to scout locations for a film and work with tourism authorities to promote the southern part of the state.

'Me invitó el presidente municipal de Tenosique, para que vayamos a conocer la región, yo ya conozco desde hace muchos años, pero querían que yo fuera otra vez, para que hiciéramos un programa de Turismo y ecología para la zona de Usumacinta y toda la zona del sur del estado', indicó Stiglitz.

He's particularly interested in legends and traditions of Tenosique, including the dance of the Pochos and a tale called "El Duende de la selva", the ghost (monster, dwarf, goblin) of the jungle.

TabascoHOY.com :: Filmará Stiglitz película en Tenosique

The latest, updated December 2008.

Maps of the Maya Area

Calderon promises to seal the border with Guatemala.

PROCESO.COM.MX - Noticias | Nacional | Promete gobierno federal sellar la frontera sur | ISAíN MANDUJANO

More information (with illustrations and diagrams) of the new technology which generates energy from vortex induced vibrations around tubes mounted on the river or ocean floor. Big advantages - safer for marine life, works in low speed currents.

Inhabitat » VIVACE: Vortex Hydro-Energy Mimics Schools of Fish

For over 50 years, oil companies have explored the Lacandon Forest looking for sources of oil. Franz Blom created the first modern map of the area in 1953 under contract to these companies.

From Mexico Solidarity Network:

Energy Secretary Georgina Kessel announced plans this week to begin
drilling for oil in the Lacandon rainforest. Citing a study conducted by
Pemex, Kessel estimated by 2021 Chiapas fields could be producing 500,000
barrels a day from 17,000 new wells. Kessel also announced the
construction of a bio-energy plant to produce biodiesel from the jatrofa
curcus, a hardy plant that can be grown in marginal soils. Experts
predict the facility will require at least 7,500 acres of mono-culture
production. The plant uses technology developed in Colombia and is
financed by at least US$800,000 in federal and state funds. Two
previously funded bio-energy plants in Cintalapa and Huehuetan consumed
about US$500,000 in state investment, but both plants are now abandoned,
due in part to the lack of a market for the relatively expensive
bio-diesel. Some communities participating in the federal ProArbol
(Pro-Tree) program are reportedly receiving seeds to plant jatrofa curcus
instead of trees.

Kessel’s announcement is part of an ambitious resurgence of Plan Puebla
Panama, now renamed the Mesoamerica Project, that contemplates four
regional development engines: tourism, minerals, oil and bio-energy.
Plans include construction of a controversial highway linking San
Cristobal de las Casas and Palenque. Canadian mining companies have been
particularly active in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas region. The plans are
generating substantial community-based opposition from indigenous
communities and environmentalists.

This is apparently based on reporting by Hermann Bellinghausen:

Oficial: Pemex explorará y extraerá crudo en la selva Lacandona, afirma Kessel - La Jornada

Los planes petroleros oficiales amenazan la biodiversidad de Chiapas: ecologistas - La Jornada

Secretary of Energy Kessel responded that no, they are not looking to drill in the Selva Lacandona. In her announcement she had referred to the "cuencas del sureste" not to the Lacandon specifically. The basin of the southeast.

Descarta Kessel planes de exploración en la Lacandona - El Universal - Finanzas

The promotion of the plan to expand production in Chiapas (whether in the Lacandon forest or not) may have come as a response to this:

Energy Tribune - Refinery Scheme Sunk by Falling Pemex Output

A new technique would allow highly efficient, non-damming electricity generation with lower required flow rates. (from Chris Shaw)

Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists - Telegraph

Searching for a bike powered water pump (for Manuel and Anita), I found this group in Guatemala who are using bikes for many applications.

MAYAPEDAL

From Ron Canter

Panoramio - Photo of Chixoy River, above La Pita access

Panoramio - Photo of lower Chixoy from air

Panoramio - Photo of Río Chixoy River below confluence Río Copón

Satellite photos of flooding from Tenosique to Villahermosa. The lower Usumacinta is always hardest hit during heavy rains.

DLR-ZKI Home Page

Should have seen this coming. The meeting between Mexican and Guatemalan officials over protection of the Maya sites has revived the idea of a continuous Ruta Maya, connecting the Peten with Campeche in Mexico, opening the last barriers to development and destruction of the Maya Biosphere.

Propone gobierno de Campeche integrar regiones de Calakmul y El Petén | SDP

Protection of sites in northern Guatemala and southern Mexico. The project includes the Sierra del Lacandon Park on the Usumacinta River.

México apoyará a Guatemala en la conservación de recursos - Titulares

Another season of flooding in Tabasco, Mexico.

Mexican flood leaves 34,000 homeless | balita-dot-ph

Existe temor entre tenosiquenses

This was announced earlier, but here's a notice from Brown University with good quotes from Houston. No one has done more for the study of Maya history on the Usumacinta.

Anthropologist Stephen Houston named 2008 MacArthur Fellow | Today at Brown

Clearwaters Magazine, of the New York Water Environment Association.

Clearwaters Issues on the Web

Awake, obsessing about the East River Cam we want to install, I found this instead.

FDR Drive

Prensa Libre - Edición electrónica - Nacional

En Piedras Negras, en la selva lacandona, hay seis frentes ilegales. En el denominado Macabilero los usurpadores juegan al gato y al ratón con las autoridades, ya que cuando la fuerza pública se presenta, ellos escapan, pero cuando se retira, los usurpadores regresan.

"...there are all these discussions about even hooking up Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela into a grid that of power plants and electrical lines that would go from northern South America up through Central America into Mexico.

That's way down the line, but you can't get there until you integrate Mexico and Central America. This is the first real step.

It's difficult because initially they were planning on building a huge dam in the Usumacinta river valley to generate the power that Mexico would sell to Central America. That dam got blocked because of environmental and ethnographic concerns so I'm not sure where the power that's going to come from Mexico to Guatemala will come from."

David Mares, James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Baker Scholar in Energy Studies, Interview, Business News Americas

(photo courtesy of Practical Fishkeeping magazine)

The Tzendales, a tributary of the Usumacinta, has five species of cichlids that are found nowhere else but in that river.

Study shows Mexican cichlid distributions | Practical Fishkeeping magazine

Article by the Mexican researchers, including abstract and full PDF for purchase:

SpringerLink - Journal Article - Spatial distribution of cichlids in Tzendales River, Biosphere Reserve Montes Azules, Chiapas, Mexico

The 20 kilometer section of highway that will complete the route between Tenosique, Mexico, and Flores, Peten, Guatemala will be finished in October or November of this year. Presidents of both countries inaugurated the project in December 2006 but construction only started in December 2007.

This link will allow direct highway travel between the Maya sites of Palenque and Tikal, and promote more invasions and destruction of the biosphere in northern Guatemala. It may also cut traffic to Frontera Corozal and Yaxchilan, depriving Frontera of tourist dollars and drawing attention away from the Usumacinta River.

Prensa Libre - Avanzan trabajos de asfalto en tramo carretero

State of emergency in Guatemala due to the heavy rains.

:: EmisorasUnidas.com :: Decretan estado de "Calamidad Pública" en 8 departamentos

Deja tormenta tropical Dolly inundaciones en Chiapas - El Universal - Los Estados

Go south of the Lacandon forest, past the Lacantun river, past the Marques de Comillas, and cross the east-west running border into Guatemala - you arrive at Ixcan. This area is now receiving foreign investment to convert to African palm oil plantations. So the conversion of rainforest to small homesteaders' plts to cattle ranches takes the next step - to biodiesel.

elPeriódico de Guatemala » Economía » Auge de biocombustibles dispara demanda de tierras

The Inter-American Development Bank has given US$30 million to Guatemala for use in rural development projects and for the protection of archaeological sites in southern Peten.

Prensa Libre - Ambiente: US$30 millones para Petén

You'll need to interpolate the seat from the photo (good luck) and the end details are a bit tricky, but it can be done with these online instructions - an origami canoe.

Adirondack Life, Inc. - July/August 2008: Paper Work

Used to augment the police in crime fighting, to combat narcotrafficking (although there have been no arrests) and protect the national parks and archaeological sites, but little deployment on the borders and coasts, which would be closer to their mandate. Commentary from a Guatemalan military analyst.

Prensa Libre - Ejército está sin rumbo definido en tiempos de paz

Cool. Portable. Being tested in La Florida, Guatemala. via Ron Granich. Thanks Ron!

Hydroelectricity: Hydroelectric Bucket Will Gladly Help You Miss the Point of Camping

42 of them assigned to the División de Protección a la Naturaleza to help protect the forests.

15 to protect tourists, 25 to add to the force in San Benito, Flores, and Santa Elena.

Prensa Libre - Llegan 82 policías a Petén para ciudar bosques, turistas y poblados

Yaxha was the location of the most recent removals of illegal settlers in Guatemala's protected areas and archaeological sites.

Prensa Libre - Desalojan a invasores del parque natural Yaxhá

Forty other families were removed from the Sierra del Lacandon park on May 23. The largest community, Centro Campesino, is still in a legal battle. Other actions are expected.

Prensa Libre - Se han recuperado 657 hectáreas invadidas en Petén

Prensa Libre - Guatemaltecos se refugian en Tabasco

I just returned from the Porvenir station on the Usumacinta, where a contingent of 15 soldiers is in place to guard against reprisals on park guards and archaeologists.

391 dams in China were damaged in the recent quakes and pose a hazard to populations nearby.

China says troops rush to plug dangerous cracks in dam - Yahoo! News

An editorial in the NY Times opposing dams in Patagonia and supporting the protesters. (via Chris Shaw)

Patagonia Without Dams - New York Times

It's been five years since my first real trip down the Usumacinta River. The photo above is from an impromptu demonstration which our group in 2003 staged in defense of the river.

Tomorrow, March 14 is the 2008 International Day of Action for Rivers.

Mesoamerica | International Rivers

Salween Watch

The fight to prevent dams on Southeast Asia’s last longest remaining free flowing river. Other news on threatened rivers linked from this site as well.

From Dan Phiffer via Boing Boing.

Left: All the water in the world (1.4087 billion cubic kilometres of it) including sea water, ice, lakes, rivers, ground water, clouds, etc. Right: All the air in the atmosphere (5140 trillion tonnes of it) gathered into a ball at sea-level density. Shown on the same scale as the Earth.

Champion of India's lepers and outcastes. The Indian government liked that. But they didn't like his activism in preserving rivers and opposing dams. He died in February at age 93.

Baba Amte | Economist.com

Baba Amte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Guess I should know this song, by a group called La Barranca. Here are the lyrics.

LA BARRANCA USUMACINTA LYRICS

Amazon.com: El Fluir: La Barranca: Music

In the Sierra del Lacandon Park, in an area where illegal settlers were evicted in 2006 - eight leaders of new invasions are being sought by authorities.

Accompanying Guatemalan news video shows the settlements and the families who were removed. In a country still recovering from a civil war, seeing soldiers evicting peasants is painful and inflammatory. But the Sierra del Lacandon is the last large remnant of the tropical forest in the Maya region, and is protected by legislation. This is the point of conflict between conservation and social justice.

USURPAN TERRENOS EN PETEN

For my own 2006 video on the region (it will take a while to download):

Maya Frontier (iPod m4v video, 217 mb, 18:30)

AlterNet: Water: The Corporate Threat to Water and the Water Justice Movement's Fight to Protect it

The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw - Bruce Barcott - Book Review - New York Times

Some on the Pacific coast of Chiapas.

Mexico adds wetlands to world registry as environmentalists warn against development - International Herald Tribune

Researchers have discovered a new catfish species in the Usumacinta watershed. The fish has been named Potamarius usumachinctae.

Readers of the Daily Glyph may remember Lacantunia enigmatica, the other new fish that was found in the Usu drainage.

New freshwater ariid catfish described | Practical Fishkeeping magazine

Looking at this I realized why our planetarium needs to be a tilted dome. We want to model the earth, fly-overs, and fly-throughs, not just the sky. We'll deal with normal flat projection another way.

Google Earth Blog: Animation Roundup: Rising Sea Levels, Filling Grand Canyon, Global Clouds

Chris Shaw's book on the Usumacinta discussed by fellow Adirondacks folks.

Starts around 1:30 into the discussion, goes for about 5 minutes.

NCPR News Archive - Readers & Writers: Winter Reading Call-in

More on the organizations proposing submerged microhydro generation on the Usumacinta.

AGER website

AGER Powerpoint

FERCCA Powerpoint

A proposal for four submerged generators on the Usumacinta has been announced. They would be built at La Linea, El Porvenir, Isla El Cayo, and Yaxchilan.

The proposal has been submitted by La Asociación de Generadores con Energía Renovable (Ager) to the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Guatemala. According to the proposal, the generators would produce 300 megawatts without disrupting the flow of the river. But the access roads and power lines that would be built would promote forest invasion and destruction. Claims of no environmental impact are not telling the whole story.

More information when I get it.

PrensaLibre.com - Proponen generador submarino

I met some of the authors of this report in 2006, and I was concerned that they were too narrowly focussed on energy benefits while minimizing the environmental and cultural impacts. The final report shows that they considered all issues, and concluded that by almost any measure it was not feasible.

The report analyzed the project with four criteria in mind: financial feasibility; economic efficiency; the distribution of costs and benefits; and environmental sustainability.

Usumacinta Dam | Conservation Strategy Fund

His question on small turbines in the first paragraph caught my eye.

Al Gore joins Kleiner Perkins to save the planet - Nov. 12, 2007

Bob Harris: Floods in Mexico: Not Exactly Over, Despite the News Cycle - Politics on The Huffington Post

I am a little late posting more good news from Guatemala, that Elaine Schele sent a couple of weeks ago. The Hospitalito in Santiago Atitlan has broken ground on the new hospital, after a recovery and reconstruction effort following a mudslide that wiped out the old Hospital. Here's a great photo set of the new bodega on site.

Hospitalito Groundbreaking on Flickr

You can be part of this great project:

Pueblo a Pueblo

The results of the Guatemalan elections are in, and it's a victory for the center-left candidate over the ex-military leader. Thanks to Lyn Dickey for the news, and highest hopes for all our friends in Guatemala.

Colom is apparent winner in Guatemala | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | World

I'm next door in Chiapas, in the mountains, wet but not flooded. Anything like this turns the homes of our friends in Palenque into a swirling river with trees. No news yet.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Floodwaters swamp Mexican state

First photo I've seen of the new genus and species found in the Usumacinta.

Stranger Fruit: A new family, genus & species of catfish

At the excellent Google Earth Design blog, I found this link to the KML editing page at Google Earth.

KML - Samples

I've posted about this before - Ron Canter's article in Mesoweb and the fantastic map that Ron and Joel Skidmore put together.

PARI Online Publications - Rivers Among the Ruins: The Usumacinta

But I am posting a new version of some Google Earth overlays I did a few years back, with Ron's new map on it. Please excuse some of my errors in placing it - anywhere that it does not fit would be my fault, not Ron's.

Download Usumacinta_2008.kmz (5mb)

Une Tabasco a México con Centroamérica

With a new highway between Tabasco and Tikal started, and more planned, the Peten forest in northern Guatemala faces new destruction, and an influx of new settlers.

PrensaLibre.com - Impacto negativo en selva petenera, por carreteras

A victory for opponents of the dam in Guerrero state, Mexico. Thanks to Manuel and Anni for the news.

Judge Halts Construction of Mexico's La Parota Dam

WNYC - The Leonard Lopate Show: Protecting Maya Ruins

Excellent evocation of place and spirit, by pal Chris Shaw of course.

The Geography of Religious Experience - New York Times

And a PDF. One for the archives and the best of Adirondack writing.

Google is offering Pro grants ($400 value Google Earth Pro) to non-profits, to create layers in KML that instruct and advance the organizations' missions.

Google Earth Outreach - Home

The deadly 21-year fight over the La Parota dam on the Papagayo River in Mexico. Thanks to Chris Shaw for the link.

Death Over Dams | Orion magazine

Adital - Guatemala - Peligrosa política de desalojo de tierras

An essay on the failure to realize the promises of the peace agreements, the resulting occupations of private and public lands, and the current policies of evictions from those lands.

La ausencia de políticas claras de acceso a la tierra hacia los campesinos, ha provocado el surgimiento de un proceso de ocupaciones de tierras, tanto privadas como nacionales, con el propósito de contar un pedazo de tierra que les permita su subsistencia y el de su familia.

La actual política de desalojos del gobierno, solo busca garantizar la propiedad privada, especialmente de algunas personas que se dicen amigas del señor presidente.

Thanks to Elaine Schele and Chris Shaw for the information. The Ixcan area is south of the Lacantun River, and part of the Usumacinta watershed. Full story if you click MORE.

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Ixcan Indigenous Referendum to Reject Oil Drilling and Hydroelectric Projects

Communities snub oil companies

Noticias Aliadas, CERIGUA. May 2, 2007

Residents choose the defense of their environment in referendum. Community members in the Guatemalan town of Ixcan, in the El Quiche department, overwhelmingly rejected a series of oil drilling and hydroelectric projects on their lands in a referendum April 20. A total of 19,911 residents participated in the vote, and nearly 94 percent voted against the activities, funded by private capital

The Q'eqchí' Environmental Roundtable, known by the Spanish acronym MAQ, which promoted the event that local authorities administered, demanded that the country's Constitutional Court respect and guarantee the vote, adhering to the International Labor Organization's Convention 169 on indigenous rights, the Constitution and the municipal code.

Several organizations such as the Ixcan's Social Pastoral, the Front against Dams, the Public Health Workers Union, the Academy of Mayan Languages of Alta Verapaz, ecological groups OilWatch and MadreSelva and the National Indigenous Campesina Coordinator are part the MAQ.

"The MAQ was created as a space [organization?] for opposition to the globalization policies that threaten the rights of the indigenous peoples, to provide information in Mayan languages to the population about the negative effects of those projects" such as oil drilling and exploration, hydroelectric projects and mining, and the Franja Transversal del Norte, or FTN highway project, said Herbert Caal of the Maya Ecological Roundtable organization. The region known as FTN cuts the country from west to east through the departments of Huehuetenango, El Quiche, Alta Verapaz, southern Peten and Izabal.

Decision making power for small community

If the Ixcan residents' decision is respected, the plans of the oil company Petrolina Corporation, a subsidiary of the English company Taghmen Energy, to continue operating the area will be halted, just as the company was considering expanding those plans. The MAQ is now urging other towns in the region to "hold this kind of vote, with the objective of making the law count."

Their calls are directed to one town in particular: Coban in Alta Verapaz. In November, representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Petrolina Corporation solicited permission to drill for oil on Coban's Municipal Farm Salinas de los Nueve Cerros. The company refused to back down from its plans, even though Coban authorities denied them permission.

Employees of the transnational company were constantly organizing sporting events between area schools and communities and cultural shows that promoted the supposed benefits the company's presence would bring to the community, says Arturo Chen, a MAQ member.

Petrolina identified the communities' social leaders and offered them well-paid positions, causing them to stop their activities against the drilling since they feared for their families' security or for losing the only source of income they had, says Leopoldo Marz, of the Maya Mestiza Association.

Salinas de los Nueve Cerros, whose area of 1,170 hectares (2,890 acres) ishome to the communities' important sources of economic, social and cultural development, such as the Chixoy River, five lagoons, 314 hectares (775 acres) of virgin forest and 360 hectares (890 acres) of sustainable use forest, Marz says. Officials at the Forensic Anthropological Foundation of Guatemala have registered 120 Mayan tombs at the site.

Shades of the Usumacinta. Thanks to Chris Shaw fro the link.

Buddhist Channel | Archaeology | Dam Threatens Ancient Buddhist Stone Carvings

Ron Canter's latest, a review of disastrous dam projects around the world, and examples of rivers, such as the Usumacinta, that are still free-flowing. I'll publish it in its entirety here (click More to see the whole essay) and the document can be downloaded here.
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BIG RIVERS, BAD DAMS Ron Canter, 3-26-07

Some of the most disastrous big dams around the world have been built in the tropics. The combination of high temperatures, impoverished populations, and water-borne parasites has been lethal. In North America Hetch-Hetchy and Glen Canyon Dams, while terrible in their own way, aren’t even in the same league with these.

Kariba Dam, Zambezi River

“The name Kariba [Kariva - “trap”] referred to a rock which thrust out of the swirling water at the entrance to the gorge close to the dam wall site, now buried more than a hundred feet below the water surface. In many legends, this rock was regarded as the home of the great river god Nyaminyami, who caused anyone who ventured near to be sucked down forever into the depths of the river.
When the valley people heard they were to be moved from their tribal lands and the great Zambezi River blocked, they believed it would anger the river god so much that he would cause the water to boil and destroy the white man’s bridge with floods.
In 1957, a year into the building of the dam, the river rose to flood level, pumping through the gorge with immense power, destroying some equipment and the access roads.
The odds against another flood occurring the following year were about a thousand to one - but flood it did - three metres higher than the previous year. This time destroying the access bridge, the cofferdam and parts of the main wall. Nyaminyami had made good his threat. He had recaptured the gorge. His waters passed over the wreckage of his enemies at more than sixteen million litres a second, a flood which, it had been calculated, would only happen once in ten thousand years.”– http://www.zambiatourism.com/travel/places/kariba.htm

Kariba Lake – length 280 km at max pool

In 1960 the gates closed on Kariba Dam at Chirundu and 280 km of the Zambesi slowly became a stillwater lake, the largest artificial lake in the world at the time. “Kariba” means “trap”, which it was for wildlife that crowded onto shrinking islands and then drowned as the lake overtopped them. Operation Noah, an international rescue effort, saved over 7000 animals from drowning, but was overall not very successful. Many more drowned, the cost was great, and the survivors’ habitat was gone anyway. Needless to say, the cost of the wildlife rescue had not been factored into the planned cost of the dam.
At Zambezi Deka, where a road reaches the river, the Zambezi has become a long thin lake set deep in the Batoka Highlands. Soon the gorge begins to widen into a narrow valley. Eutrophication has favored masses of aquatic vegetation in the stillwater. Visible in satellite images are bright green floating mats of vegetation caught in coves and between islands – they even block the main channel in one place. Below the road from Msuna, the stilled river enters another gorge, which it threads quietly for 19 km.
The river widens and runs northeast for the next 20 km. The river/lake turns left through a rock gate and expands in Gwembe Valley, once home to thousands of farmers and hordes of wildlife. For 150 km the lake is a man-made inland sea 25 to 30 km wide - about half as wide as Lake Erie. At Upper Kariba, 96 km before the dam, there were once heavy rapids in a short canyon. Now the lake just narrows briefly to 5 km wide.

Manantali Dam, Bafing River, one of the Senegal River’s two main sources

The Bafing River in Mali is one of the two main sources of the Senegal River. Completed in 1987, Manantali Dam – a “poster child for bad dams” – plugs the river about 800 km above its junction with the Senegal. In 2001, 14 years after it was built, Manantali Dam finally began producing electricity. 55% of the power generated goes to Mali, 45% to Senegal. Water-borne diseases (malaria, urinary diarrhoea, intestinal parasitic diseases, schistosomiasis, and intestinal schistosomiasis, a much more dangerous form of the disease) have spread rapidly via still water and irrigation canals. There has been a massive disruption of ecosystems downstream in Senegal and Mauritania. Manantali was so clearly a boondoggle that the World Bank took a pass on this one and would not fund it.
Irrigation agriculture has actually turned out to be less productive than the flood-recession farming it displaced all along the Senegal River for 800-900 km downstream. The high cost of building a system of irrigation canals has resulted in only a fraction of those planned actually being completed. In every irrigation plan, the government has favored large farms, and small farms have been shut out. Worse, poor farmers no longer able to plant flood-recession farms have had their lands appropriated. In addition, the river is becoming undrinkable due to the return flow being polluted by chemicals used on irrigated fields.
One intention was to make the Senegal River navigable year-round but that has not worked well so far. The dam does not normally impound enough water to meet all its touted goals: irrigation, hydropower, and navigation. The dam may actually be contributing to desertification in Mauritania, along the north shore of the Senegal River by changing annual evaporation patterns.

Diama Dam, Senegal River
From Bakel to St. Louis the Senegal River winds across a broad flood plain, the ‘delta’ of the Senegal River. It is flat and easy traveling, when there is water enough. The first half is seasonal; the second was tidal before the Diama Dam was built.
Before damming, tides reportedly affected the river as far as 400 km from the ocean. In 1986 the Diama Dam was built 27 km upstream from St. Louis in an attempt to stop the intrusion of saltwater, which in turn was being aggravated by the disruption of normal freshwater flow by the nearly complete Manantali Dam over 900 km upstream. The Diama Dam also diverts water south into the bed of the Ferlo River to store for the dry season.
The dam has caused eutrophication and disease in the delta by encouraging a dense growth of aquatic nuisance plants (mainly Typha australis), which clog the waterways and harbor vectors of water-borne diseases. An explosion of mosquito and snail populations has brought malaria and both urinary and intestinal bilharzia to epidemic proportions.

Kanji [Kainji] Dam, Niger River
Started in 1964 and completed in 1968, Nigeria is still paying off the debt on it (as of 2006). Instead of plugging a narrow gap like most dams, it snakes across a broad valley. At 9 km, it is one of the longest big dams in the world. It backs up a lake about 160 km long. The widest part is not behind the dam but halfway up, where the lake opens into a huge oval bay 48 km long and 24 km across.

Cahora Bassa Dam, Zambezi River

Quebrabassa Gorge, the final canyon on the Zambezi, begins below Zumbo, where the river slides into Mozambique, considered the poorest country in the world. The 1911 Encyclopedia gave the length from the first to the last of the rapids as 70 km, and indicated that the portage road was longer, “taking a detour of 70 miles (112 km)”.
The river is dammed halfway down the canyon to form 250 km long and 26 m deep Cahora Bassa Lake. The 170 m high dam was completed in 1974. The lake pinches through three narrows, vestiges of major cataracts at hard rock layers. The lake is very windy. Built for contradictory functions: flood control and power generation, the dam’s resulting flow regime has been very erratic. Since there is little demand for electricity in Mozambique, electricity is sold at cut-rate prices to South Africa. Even villages near the dam remain without power because the cost of building the grid is beyond Mozambique’s limited resources.
In common with the Kariba project, Cahora Bassa displaced tens of thousands of people, hordes of wildlife, and permanently flooded productive farmland. In addition, it has had a huge impact for 500 km downstream in the floodplain and coastal delta. Without annual overflow to floodplain pools, the fish have not been able to spawn in the huge numbers that once supported villages. Flood-recession farms along riverbanks are periodically washed away by unexpected dry season releases. Big game hunting, a significant source of regional income, has withered as the game animals have suffered from reduced wetland productivity. Nearing the coast, the mangroves are dying back without the silt renewed at their roots. Mangroves both protect the coast and are a habitat for prawns. In addition, the river channel is now often too shallow for navigation in the dry season above Tete. The net result has been to deepen the poverty of the average person living along the river.

Proposed Mphanda Nkuwa Dam, Zambezi River

The unflooded portion of Quebrabassa Gorge appears to have six major rapids, at least for now. Pictures of the gorge show high volume rapids in a spectacular canyon. Forested walls curve upward to cliffs topped by bare rock knobs.
“The Mozambican government is proposing to build the Mphanda Nkuwa Dam [Mepanda Uncua] 60km downstream from the Cahora Bassa Dam. It is estimated that the dam would produce as much as 1,300MW of electricity that the government anticipates using to attract energy intensive industries to Mozambique, including expansion of the Mozal Aluminum Smelter, but this power would come at a high price. The proposed dam is already a priority infrastructure project under the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), which is promoting Mphanda Nkuwa for increased supply of the regional electricity grid, primarily for industrial supply.
In addition to displacing 1,400 rural farmers, the Mphanda Nkuwa Dam would require the Cahora Bassa Dam to operate according to its current destructive release patterns, and make downstream restoration very difficult to achieve. Mphanda Nkuwa could also exacerbate downstream social and environmental damage by causing daily fluctuations in river level. These mini–floods are predicted to flood ecologically important sandbars and riverbank food gardens which provide the only vegetable resource for many local farmers and are essential for ensuring food security during the dry season. The water fluctuations will also impair fishing and navigation by canoe, especially in the stretch bewteen Mphanda Nkuwa and the city of Tete. The $2 billion project also poses significant economic risk to Mozambique, one of the world’s poorest nations.” - http://www.irn.org/programs/mphanda/

Volta [Akosombo] Dam, Volta River
The stillwater lake has caused the spread of tripanosomiasis, “river blindness” like wildfire. Between 1960 and 1964 the rate in children rose from only 5% to 90%. It now afflicts virtually everyone living near the river, and half of those over 40 have gone blind.

Aswan High Dam, Nile River
The 110 m high dam supplies much of Egypt’s power, greatly increased the area of farmland, ended the annual floods, and allows two to three crops annually, but is not without long-term trade-offs.
Starting in 1967, Lake Nasser began to fill. By 1971 it had drowned 1000 known archaeological sites, the majority of which were never even surface surveyed due to lack of time and resources. Nearly 50,000 people were displaced. Effects included ending the flow of nutrients to riverside fields downriver and the intrusion of saltwater up delta distributaries now too feeble to resist.
The breadbasket of the Mediterranean, Egypt sustained intensive agriculture for a staggering 5000 years. Throughout its history, the nation practiced “flood recession farming” on a grand scale. Every year (with unpleasant exceptions) the Blue Nile rose on schedule and flushed rich Ethiopian silt from the highlands into the Nile itself. As is well known, the rise of the river spread the muck over fields in Nubia and Egypt all the way to the Mediterranean, watering them and endlessly renewing their fertility with “the magic mud that can raise cities from the desert sand” (Churchill, 1902). To quote an unnamed ancient poet, “The fields laugh and the river-banks are overflowed. The visage of men is bright, and the heart of the gods rejoiceth”.
All that has ended with the construction of the Aswan High Dam and two others in Nubia on the Blue Nile. No one needs to leave the bottomland to escape flooding but Egyptian farming methods have completely changed. Now Egyptian farmers need to buy water to irrigate their fields and fertilizer to maintain fertility. Whether they will be more prosperous in the long run remains to be seen. Hopes for the dam to be a “wall against hunger” have not been realized. The birth rate has simply kept pace with the increased harvest. Given the population crowded along the shores now, it would be impossible to revert to the ancient high and low Nile cycle.
Archaeologically the Aswan High Dam was the single worst thing to happen to Egyptian and Meroean antiquities ever. A few high profile sites were dismantled and rebuilt on higher ground, or protected by dikes at great expense. The 1,000 other sites identified in the salvage survey all went under - 4000 years of history gone (Keating, 1975). Most sobering was that, when the archaeological surveys began, less than 100 sites were known. In spite of the massive UNESCO salvage effort, only a fraction of the sites discovered could be systematically excavated.
Huge forts of mud-brick guarding the portages, their landings, a ship portage road, and a system of wing dams making the river navigable were all discovered, minimally excavated, and then lost forever. Buhen, the greatest of all the forts, was preserved for 4000 years by the desert and neglect. With its multiple dry moats, flaking fields of fire, drawbridges, archer slits, etc, it was the most sophisticated defensive structure in the world until the Venetians finally surpassed it. Now it can only be toured virtually- the original has dissolved into a pile of mud.

Merowe Dam, Nile River
In Sudan, construction began in 2006 on the Merowe [Hamdab] Dam at Hamdab 31 km above Marawi [New Merowe]. It will flood the Fourth Cataract of the Nile and more – 160 km upriver in all. It is officially multipurpose but hydropower is the main goal. Planned to be 67 m high and 9 km long, it is the largest hydro project in Africa currently under construction (Cost: 1200 million EURs, or 1.5 billion dollars). The dam is 9 km long because the river is not in any sort of gorge here, just a broad valley with isolated hills, two of which are being dismantled for fill. The 10 hydro generators, ranked across the right-hand channel around an island at Hamdab, are nearly complete. The principal contractor is the China International Water & Electric Corp. “The creation of the reservoir lake will increase the surface area of the Nile by about 700 km_. Under the climatic conditions at the site, additional evaporation losses of up to 1,500,000,000 m_ per year can be expected. This corresponds to about 8% of the total amount of water allocated to Sudan in the Nile Waters Treaty” (Wikipedia, 2006). There have been no environmental assessments – not one.
Since the only arable land is in narrow strips fronting the river and in patches on islands within the cataract, the 50,000 people who will be displaced have nowhere to go. Beyond the narrow river bottom all is desert. The plan is to relocate them to dry farms, where they will have two years of irrigation free, and then have to buy water. The desert soil is poor and may take 40 years of nurturing to bring it up to the level of the farms lost. Basically, the displaced Manoosir farmers are being shoved into the desert to wither and die – and they know it. The Sudanese displaced by the Aswan Dam were relocated along a miserable stretch of the Atabara River, and languish there still. Several Manoosir protesters were killed by Sudanese police in April 2006. The plight of 50,000 Manoosir is lost in the larger tragedies of modern Sudan - like the hundreds of thousands killed in Darfur.
Flooding starts in Aug 2007 and may take two years to reach max pool. There are half a dozen salvage archaeology expeditions underway (Archaeology, Nov-Dec 2006, Andrew Lawler, on the Humboldt Univ. Nubian Expedition), but all are small and often met with hostility. The Manoosir don’t want any outsiders - archaeologists included -in their territory along the Fourth Cataract. In spite of this, hundreds of sites have been located, but there is no time or resources to do much with them. “The Fourth Cataract--after a brief emergence into the archaeological limelight--seems destined to slip back into obscurity, this time for eternity” (Lawler, 2006).

Rusayris Dam and Senna Dam, Blue Nile
Within Sudan, the Blue Nile is dammed in two places: Rusayris [Roseires] Dam at Damazine (1950s), and Senna Dam (1925). The river’s huge silt load has already filled both reservoirs and converted them into black, oozing mudflats. In the past that muck would have ended up on Sudanese and Egyptian fields, restoring their fertility. Now it just bakes in the sun.
The Great Gezira Plan to grow cotton with irrigation from Senna Dam long ago evaporated, but twin irrigation canals run north from the left side of the Senna Dam (3 km long, about 20 m high). They water small farms in a region stretching 200 km from the dam north to Khartoum. Along the river itself are the prodigious ruins of British pumping stations, “a museum of broken schemes” (Bangs 2005).
The interconnectedness of all things has nowhere been more glaringly obvious than along the Nile from source to sea. The broad outline of it has been known from ancient times, yet the nations along it - Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia – all dam and divert it without careful thought to consequences.

Diamer-Bhasha Dam, Indus [Sindhu] River
Located where the Hindu Kush and Himalaya Ranges come together, the Diamer-Bhasha Dam will destroy one of the world’s largest collections of rock art, carved on boulders along the upper Indus and ranging in age from Neolithic to 16th cen. Approx 50,000 carvings and 5,000 inscriptions are being documented by a German team, but the boulders are too big to be moved. They will either be inundated by Bhasha Lake or destroyed in reconstruction of 100 km of the Karakoram Highway. http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/05/nat11.htm
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in May of 2006, work on the infrastructure has begun, and construction of the dam itself is slated to begin in 2008. 30,000 people from 32 villages (including ancient Chilas) will be displaced. The dam will be about 165 km downstream of Gilgit and produce 3.36 megawatts. Water storage in perennially dry Pakistan is another major purpose, but hydro-power and water storage are not mutually supportive uses. At a cost of $6.5 billion US, the dam is intended to be the flagship of efforts to develop Pakistan’s Northern Areas. A concern of opponents is that the dam will increase local humidity, leading to more rapid melting of glaciers in the mountains nearby.

and of course, the biggest dam boondoggle of all, flooding entire canyons to their brim:

Three Gorges Dam, Ch’ang Chian (Yangtze) River
All the problems of big dams, but writ even larger, afflict the Three Gorges Dam in China, for it is the mother of all dams – the world’s largest hydro and flood control project. The stats are mind-boggling. The dam wall will be 185 meters high; the normal pool 174 meters deep. Xiling Gorge, the last of the historic and scenic Three Gorges, will be flooded nearly to its brim. One could drop the Great Pyramid into the pool behind the dam – and it would sink out of sight. 1,250,000 people, 13 cities, 140 towns, and 1352 villages are being removed to make way for the lake. By the time it is done in 2012, it will be the most expensive construction project in history. The hydros will generate 17 to 18 gigawatts (at $2000 per kilowatt). The lake will stretch upstream for 600 km, past the city of Chongqin, which will become a port for ocean-going ships. The Aswan High Dam flooded 1000 archaeological sites. The Three Gorges Dam will swallow 8000, some 10,000 years old (Winchester, 1996).
The dam will accomplish its four main goals: flood control, power generation, improved navigation, and reduction of sulphur and CO2 emissions by reducing need for coal-fired plants. The key question though is “For how long?” The Achilles heel of the Three Gorges Dam is the smallest of things – silt. The river carries an enormous silt load, 530 million tons annually, which the lake will intercept. Chongqin may become a port of ocean-going ships for a time, but there is little doubt that the silt deposited in the upper end of the reservoir will quickly fill the channel. Bed load ranging from silt to boulders will also accumulate behind the dam, and constantly threaten to clog the turbine intakes.
More serious is the effect of relieving the lower river of its silt. With a dramatically reduced sediment load, the swift Ch’ang Chian will actively erode its banks and levees downstream of the dam. Since Shanghai, China’s largest city, is built on river mud, erosion may threaten the long-term stability of its foundations. The river delta will stop growing seaward, and probably retreat. Salt water and tides will certainly move farther upriver. Shanghai (which means “Above the Sea”) is over1600 km downstream of the dam, yet the dam will affect it.
Other negative consequences include massive environmental damage, enormous relocation problems, possibly creating an underclass of “dam refugees”, increased risk of landslides, and the destruction of some of China’s finest and most iconic scenery - the Sanxia: Qutang, Wu, and Xiling Gorges.
Finally, there is the question of the long-term safety of the dam itself. It would be a prime site for terrorist attack. The site finally chosen at Sandouping has serious shortcomings for air defense (Winchester, 1996). A major landslip (such as the collapse of the Huangla Stone, an overhanging cliff 40 km upstream) into the lake could send a wave surging over the dam. In August 1975 a typhoon overwhelmed the much smaller Banqiao Dam on a tributary. “The vast structure promptly burst: the resulting lake stretched for thirty miles downstream, and whole villages were inundated in seconds. Almost a quarter of a million people died. News seeped out only in 1994, nearly twenty years after the event” (Winchester, 1996). If the Three Gorges Dam burst, millions would die.
Dai Qing, a Beijing journalist, gathered up all the papers of respected engineers and hydrologists and published them in 1989 in a book. Within two months she was in prison, but the information sparked an unprecedented vote by the National People’s Congress in 1992. They were to rubber-stamp the Three Gorges project, but, when debate was forbidden, one third voted against or abstained anyway. After the vote, all international support was withdrawn, particularly funding from the banking community. China was left to go it alone.
“A general feeling had arisen that large dams were ill-conceived projects, that few of them had realized the expectations offered for them, that all were too costly, most had caused grave environmental impacts on their surroundings, and that each was little more than pomposity writ in concrete, with totalitarian regimes favoring them most notably as a way of impressing the peasantry with the ruler’s acumen, energy, and skill.” (Winchester, 1996, pgs 227-28)

In General:

In most cases the effects of flooding the land upstream of the dam were recognized during planning. They were sometimes understated - often intentionally - but the loss of farmland and the displacement of thousands of people never came as a total surprise.
What is disturbing is how often the effects downstream of the dam were not anticipated at all. The only result usually touted is that annual flooding would now be controlled. This is seen as a good thing, until the full effects are realized. Profoundly altering a river’s annual cycle affects every living thing downstream - from man to bug - that has adapted over time to live within that cycle.
In every case, changing the annual flow regime on a big river has had a tremendous negative impact on floodplain farms, disease vectors, wildlife habitats, and offshore fisheries for hundreds, even thousands, of kilometers below the dam. Even when the likely results are pointed out, the tendency of planners has been to minimize or ignore downstream impact, possibly because it is not so easy to quantify as acreage flooded or people relocated. In addition, there is a clear pattern: the bigger the river, the worse the downstream consequences.
The loss of archaeological sites is a given. Past people chose to live by the river for good reasons: drinking water, fertile farmland, and a natural road. A rule of thumb from past salvage projects seems to be that, whatever the number of known sites at the start, the number found by the end will be at least ten times larger.
Once a dam is built, the people are stuck with the results, like it or not. The dam will never be dismantled. It would be too costly, and an admission of failure. In spite of the catastrophic results from those already in place, more are even now being built.

BIG RIVERS, NO DAMS

There are several world-class rivers that have not got their big dam yet, thankfully for very practical reasons. Instead, they have run-of-the-river hydros, which have little impact on the basin above or below.

Mekong River

Presently the Mekong River in Southeast Asia follows its annual rhythm of dry and monsoon levels as it always has. Where the ragged crest of Phu Khan He Mountain rises above the right shore, a band of resistant rock crosses the river. Starting at an elevation of 74 m, the Mekong drops 21 m in only a few km just before crossing from Laos into Cambodia. The length of the falls is usually given as between 10 and 12 km, but this is actually their width – they span 11 km.
Khone Falls is one of the widest waterfalls on any river in the world. Since the river is not confined in a gorge, the falls spread wide among parallel channels, five or six in the dry season and a dozen in the monsoon. Wherever joints have created a weak zone, there the river has etched a channel. Each channel has its own set of falls, and none are navigable. For whitewater paddlers, it is the classic “carry up and run another chute” scenario – on steroids. Endangered Irrawaddy dolphins hang out below the falls and are a local tourist attraction.
Khon Pha Pheng Falls, in the easternmost channel below Thakho, is the largest of the falls because it is the most abrupt drop, taking most of the 21 meters at once. Somphamit Falls, in a channel along the south side of Don Det (“don” means island), are somewhat smaller, since they are preceded by rapids. Other rapids and falls are in narrow channels between Don Phapheng, Don Sadam, and Don Sahong. West of Somphamit in a seasonal channel are the falls of Nam Keng, though at the height of the monsoon most of the low islands west of Don Det and Don Saniat are underwater.
The remains of a French railway, built to ease a portage past the falls, are still traceable. Built on Don Khone, a large midriver island, it ran only 5 km from the head of rapids above Nam Somphamit to Hangkhon village, at the foot of a hill where most of the channels rejoin. It probably just improved an existing portage trail.
There is no narrow mountain gap to plug. A dam would have to be over 12 km long to block all the channels and that is almost too much for even the most ardent dam builder to suggest with a straight face.
The Tad Somphamit Hydro produces power by diverting a small part of the average river flow (10,663 m3/s) for 2 km through a tunnel. It dewaters a short stretch of one channel at the height of the dry season but does nothing more. Though the river volume is less, the hydro’s output is highest in the dry season. In the monsoon, the tailwater level rises, reducing the drop. In the planning stages, Thakho Hydro would tap Khon Pha Pheng Falls with a one km tunnel to its own run-of-the-river plant.
Run-of-the-river plants may have local effects but they have no impact on the annual wet-dry cycles of a river basin. But this could change for the Mekong. A high dam in a Laotian mountain gap 24 km above Vianchang (and 2000 km from the sea) has been proposed. By ending the Monsoon high water, it would prevent floods in Laos. It would also compromise the renewal of the fertility of Lake Tonle Sap and of the Mekong Delta, breadbaskets of Cambodia and southern Vietnam. this would incidentally disrupt the fisheries of all of Southeast Asia, since Lake Tonle Sap’s annual backfilling in the monsoon is essential for the spawning cycle of all commercial species. It sounds like a cliché, but the whole Mekong watershed really is one huge interlocking ecosystem.

Congo River

In the second set of rapids forming Livingstone Falls on the Congo a short swift stretch leads into a particularly long series of continuous rapids, the Inga Rapids. The river falls 96 m in 14 km for an overall gradient of 6.9 m/km (35 ft/mi) – an incredible descent for the second largest river on earth. In the world list of waterfalls by volume Inga is number one.
Inga Rapids tumble southeast in a wide channel to Sikila Island, only to suddenly double back to the southwest and squeeze into a narrow gorge. There are no pools or breaks, but there are five major drops within the Inga Rapids: two above the corner, a wide one right on it, and two below. The last drop is particularly huge, possibly the largest rapid on earth. The Congo’s flow at Inga is 43,000 cubic m per sec (1.5 mil cfs) and it has not escaped the attention of hydro planners.
In the late 1970-early 1980s, the Inga Power Project built a diversion canal above the left shore, with one power plant [Inga Power 1] part way down, and a second [Inga Power 2] where the river doubles back. Since the Congo’s flow is fairly constant, there is no need for a dam. Rather, they are run-of-the-river hydros. Both are running at only half capacity due to poor maintenance, which was in turn due to the Congo civil war. At full capacity their output is greater than all of Italy’s power plants combined – all this with no dam. There are plans to upgrade them and add a third plant, if money can be found. All are in the Nkololo Valley.
The Grand Inga scheme goes far beyond merely adding to existing hydros. The paln is to dam the Congo and divert the entire river through the Bundi Valley. The cost of actually plugging the second largest river in the world by volume would be astronomical. In fact, it would cost a minimum of $50 billion. Planned to generate 39,000 MW, it could fill the current power demands of most of the African continent by itself, but only select regions would be tied in to the projected Pan-African grid. It is not clear where the money would come from.
Unlike the current run-of-the-river hydros, Grand Inga would disrupt the Congo’s flow and massively impact the regional ecosystems. It would also be a prime target for saboteurs. Given the enormous price tag and the poverty of the Congo, it would seem unlikely that it could ever funded, but stranger schemes have been pushed through to completion – with terrible consequences for the poor countries so favored.

and the Usumacinta River is undammed - so far.

Citations:

Bangs, Richard & Pasquale Scaturro
2005 Mystery of the Nile. New American Library, Penguin Books, London, UK

Churchill, Winston
1902 The River War, in Gutenberg E-text
1903
Forbath, Peter
1977 The Congo. Harper & Rowe

Keating, Rex
1975 Nubian Rescue. Hawthorn Books, Inc. New York, NY.

Lawler, Andrew
2006 “Damming Sudan”, Archaeology, Nov-Dec 2006. On the Merowe Dam and Humboldt Univ. Nubian Expedition

Alan Moorehead
1960 The White Nile
1962 The Blue Nile. Hamish Hamilton, London

Winchester, Simon
1996 The River at the Center of the World. Henry Holt, NY

http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/dams/index.htm
Problematic big dam projects worldwide

http://www.learningsites.com/EarlyWork/buhen-2.htm
Buhen Fortress

http://www.utdallas.edu/geosciences/remsens/Nile/Cataract-Semna.html
Semna site on Nile in Sudan, now drowned

http://www.zambiatourism.com/travel/places/kariba.htm
Kariba Dam

http://www.irn.org/programs/mphanda/
Mphanda Nkuwa Dam

http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/05/nat11.htm
Diamer-Bhasha Dam

http://american.edu/ted/threedam.htm
TED case study, 3 Gorges Dam

http://www.visit-laos.com/where/champassak/outandabout.htm
Sii Pan Don and Khone Falls

http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97g/chapter26.html
Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo, Richard Burton, with map of lower Congo

http://www.irn.org/programs/congo/index.php?id=050907illusions_eng.html
Grand Inga Power Project

The past and future of the Usumacinta River watershed was the theme of the Maya Meetings, held last week in Austin Texas. For three members of the Rios Mayas organization (Ron Canter, Chris Shaw, and Dave Pentecost), it was a privilege to come and present what we have learned over the last few years, and to find new support for the campaign to protect the river from a hydroelectric dam and other threats.

I will post a selection of information, reports, maps, and video here for quick reference. Welcome to all Maya Meeting folks, and people coming here by way of the FAMSI website, which has offered its support to the work.

The Daily Glyph - Chris Shaw's Open Letter on the Usumacinta

RECENT REPORTS

PARI Online Publications - Rivers Among the Ruins: The Usumacinta, by Ron Canter

The Daily Glyph - Big Rivers, Bad Dams - by Ron Canter

PARI Online Publications - Border Problems: Recent Archaeological Research along the Usumacinta River, By Charles Golden and Andrew Scherer

VIDEO:

Maya Frontier (iPod m4v video, 217 mb, 18:30)

Defensores (iPod m4v video, 40 mb, 3:25)

River Kingdoms (iPod m4v video, 34 mb, 2:54)

You can play these in iTunes, or Quicktime player for Mac or Windows.

For best results: Download completely and then play.

Guatemalans are still well organized and vocal against the construction of dams on the Usumacinta.

Comunidades guatemaltecas protestan contra Plan Puebla Panamá - Prensa Latina

Agustín Tebalán Hernández, coordinador del Frente Petenero contra las Represas, dijo a prensa Latina que las hidroeléctricas sólo beneficiarán a las grandes empresas de México y Centroamérica.

Las instalaciones se harían una en territorio de México y tres sobre la corriente binacional del Usumacinta, cuyo cauce resultaría alterado, con graves perjuicios para la flora y la fauna circundantes.

"Cientos de kilómetros cuadrados de la principal reserva natural de Guatemala, con extensos bosques y una enorme riqueza ecológica, desaparecerían", dijo Tebalán Hernández.

Longest underground river found | Tech&Sci | Science | Reuters.com

Charles Golden and Andrew Scherer update their work from 2006. The border between Yaxchilan and Piedras Negras, as well as the modern border between Mexico and Guatemala.

PARI Online Publications - Border Problems: Recent Archaeological Research along the Usumacinta River

An excellent profile of the people who live just across the Usumacinta from Frontera Corozal, who have survived war and dislocation and now are well organized against a dam on the river.

elPeriódico de Guatemala » Actualidad » La vida en la rivera del Usumacinta

La Técnica

In real life, in Richmond.
Powhatan Indian Style.
Thanks to Ron Canter for the link.

TimesDispatch.com | HANDS-ON LEARNING - Richmond-area kids help turn discarded log into Powhatan Indian dugout

Thanks to Chris, a pointer to a good book on dams and the environment.

Amazon.com: Deep Water: The Epic Struggle Over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment: Books: Jacques Leslie

Chris Shaw is co-directing a new environmental journalism fellowship program at Middlebury College. Here's the press release.

Middlebury College announces establishment of fellowship program in environmental journalism

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Trópico Verde and Conservation Strategy Fund have begun a study of the impacts of the proposed road through the Peten. They have concluded so far that it will result in the destruction of 60% of the forest cover in the Rio Azul National Park within 15 years.

PrensaLibre.com - Temen desastre por carretera

A bitter victory for the Sierra del Lacandon biosphere reserve. Can Guatemala find a way to protect its people and its resources, from poverty and narcotrafficking?

PrensaLibre.com - Desalojan a invasores de Sierra del Lacandón

This is the most complete newspaper report yet on the problems of narcotrafficking and large illegal settlements in the Sierra del Lacandon Park, on the banks of the Usumacinta River in Guatemala.

elPeriódico de Guatemala

NPR : Guatemala's Parks Lie in Path of Drug Traffickers

GUATEMALA: Following the Latest Route of the Central American Migrants

Congratulations to Ron Canter for the attention that his work with Native Trails is finally getting. The travel section of the NY Times today has a beautiful article on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, from northern Maine to southern Adirondacks in New York State. It shows that three people with an obsession can make a difference.

The Magnificent Obsession of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail - New York Times

La construcción de presas unifica las protestas y resistencia de los afectados

Thanks to Alfonso for pointing this out. A good summary of the problems with dams, in Mexico and the world, and the continued plans for large dam construction in Mexico.

México insiste en construir más presas, pese a sus comprobados inconvenientes

The Mexican ministry in charge of the environment and natural resources has given the go ahead for the 210 meter tall La Yesca dam. It will be built on the Santiago River in the states of Jalisco and Nayarit. Other Mexican development and environmental groups continue to oppose it.

Minimiza Semarnat los daños ecológicos que ocasionará la presa La Yesca

I've just completed a 3 minute introduction to the story I shot this spring in Mexico and Guatemala. The music is "Perfidia", a 1940 hit by Chiapas composer Alberto Dominguez, performed as a moody guitar instrumental by Café Tacuba.

On the Maya Frontier - preview (iPod m4v video, 21 mb, 3:33)

You can play this in iTunes, or Quicktime player for Mac or Windows.

For best results: Download completely and then play.
Thanks to everyone who has helped me, this year and in the past.

Previous videos from the Maya region:

Zapatista March 2001

San Bartolo Mural Video

Cayucos in Naha

elPeriódico de Guatemala - El potencial de generación eléctrica en Guatemala

Los ríos de Guatemala poseen un potencial para la generación de energía de 10 mil 900 megavatios y la capacidad técnicamente aprovechable es de unos 5 mil megavatios. El Instituto Nacional de Electrificación (INDE) posee un mapa con 240 sitios en los cuales es factible construir una central hidroeléctrica, de los cuales cuenta con perfiles y estudios de prefactibilidad y factibilidad de 104 proyectos. Las inversiones potenciales en los proyectos hidroeléctricos alcanzan la cifra de US$5 mil 773 millones. Los proyectos más grandes son Xalalá (que saldrá a licitación dentro de un par de meses) y Serchil, ambos ubicados sobre el Río Chixoy, con 495 y 202 megavatios respectivamente. Chulac, sobre el río Cahabón, con una capacidad de generación de 440 y 340 megavatios, según la opción. Los sitios Piedras Negras y Salvamento, sobre el Río Usumacinta, con un potencial de 413 y 437 megavatios.

Not only in Latin America are dams controversial. Even dams that affect few people are subject to debate.

A Massive Dam, Under Way in Laos, Generates Worries - New York Times

El Heraldo de Chiapas - Peligran hidroelectricas por deforestacion y azolvamiento

This is several weeks old, but it is the clearest signal yet that CFE is considering a renewed effort to build a dam on the Usumacinta.

México, D.F. - Concretó Fox un solo megaproyecto: El Cajón

“México no tiene tanta agua como otros países, pero tiene montañas que le sirven bien para desarrollar proyectos hidroeléctricos”, dice Humberto Marengo, director de proyectos hidroeléctricos de la CFE.

Marengo explicó que hay proyectos sobre el Río Usumacinta que podrían generar el doble de energía de la presa El Cajón con apenas la mitad de la inversión.

Es el caso del proyecto Tenosique, en Tabasco, en donde con una cortina de apenas 22 metros de altura se podría tener una planta de 450 megawatts de capacidad y que podría funcionar unas 18 horas diarias, por el caudal del Usumacinta; sin embargo, El Cajón sólo funciona para los picos de demanda, explicó el funcionario.

En energía hidráulica, la actual administración tiene su mayor apuesta con el proyecto El Cajón, que no es sino parte de un sistema de presas que incluye la de Aguamilpa y que se concluirá con La Yesca, sobre el mismo río Santiago.

Para el director de Proyectos Hidroeléctricos de la CFE, el problema es la subutilización de los ríos, por ejemplo, en Europa el Danubio tiene más de 20 mil megawatts de capacidad de generación instalados y es apenas 75% del caudal del Usumacinta en el sureste del país.

I just ran across this 2 year old document from the Mexican Senate, considering the importance of the Pantanos de Centla and mentioning the longterm danger of desertification if the Boca del Cerro dam project moves forward.

Senado de la República - Gaceta Parlamentaria - DICTAMEN DEL PUNTO DE ACUERDO EN RELACIÓN CON LOS POZOS PETROLEROS UBICADOS EN LA RESERVA DE LA BIOSFERA DE PANTANOS DE CENTLA, TABASCO.

Referring to a study by CONAE, the national energy conservation commission, on minihydraulic energy, this report brings up recent rumors of renewed dam plans. Good news though that someone in Mexico is thinking of alternatives to dams and flooding.

Diario Presente - Tabasco, potencia para generar luz

What should be a cautionary tale, for Mexican leaders considering Boca del Cerro.

International Rivers Network: South Africa

One-third of Chiapas deforested or degraded. A call for the next governor of Chiapas to address reforestation. Among the presidential candidates, Lopez Obrador and Calderon have both backed reforestation as a key part of development in their campaign speeches.

El Heraldo de Chiapas - Asunto de seguridad nacional, recuperar bosques de Chiapas

Two good stories in the Chiapas paper: on silting of Chiapas rivers shortening the life of hydroelectric plants as the land loses all topsoil; and the politics of the environment in Mexico.

El Heraldo de Chiapas - Peligran presas hidroeléctricas por deforestación

El Heraldo de Chiapas - Medio Ambiente; una Bandera Electoral

I've heard that the Mexican electrical commission, the CFE, has hired a northern Mexico university to create a new study on a 30 to 40 meter dam at Boca del Cerro, on the Usumacinta River. It seems that this time around, the emphasis will be on the national needs for power, not the creation of a regional grid under Plan Puebla Panama. The need for water in the Yucatan, to supply the growing tourist trade, will also be used as a justification.

Other than those new principles, the campaign will likely be similar to the one in 2002-2003, when the tactic was to restrict any public information about the dam. Here's a translation of an editorial from that period that I missed at the time, but which is newly relevant.

Dick Russell - Editorials by Homero Aridjis

An inspiration in our small resistance against the Usumacinta dam.

AlterNet: Arundhati Roy: Back In the U.S.A.

Trying to get ready for a trip to Merida and a meeting on the Maya Forest, I came across this inspiring online tool created by The Nature Conservancy. Document library, collaboration/workspaces, other resources.

Welcome to the new ConserveOnline

Thanks to Alfonso for these links. First, regarding problems at the nearly completed El Cajon dam.

Pendiente, la remediación de daños ambientales causados por El Cajón

And the UN's requests to the government regarding La Parota and the local communities:

Gmail - La Jornada: Pide la ONU consulta sobre La Parota

El Financiero en linea - Promete Calderón plan de reordenamiento de frontera sur de México

RiosMayas partner, chief cartographer, and maniac paddler Ron Canter sent this story, about the 740 mile canoe trail that he's helped establish in the northeast United States. Another link in the Maya/Adirondack connection. Float on!

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise - Saranac Lake to host grand opening of canoe trail

Good sketch of biological research in Lacantun Biosphere Reserve.

Lacantun Biosphere Reserve - Park Profile - Conservation and research

For the first time, Guatemala is participating in this cultural festival, celebrating all of the area touched by the Usumacinta River. Begins May 5. And I won't be there. Too bad.

Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche y Guatemala, unidos en festejo cultural | 2006-04-28 | La Crónica de Hoy

Subcomandante Marcos, now calling himself Subdelegado Zero, warned the Mexican government that building the La Parota dam in the state of Guerrero would set off a new war in the southeast, that is, Chiapas. He made the statement while on the national tour known as "La otra campaña", the other campaign, in this presidential election year.

Desencadenaría conflicto armado proyecto impulsado por Fox: EZLN - Prensa Latina

In response, the leader of the PAN party in Guerrero called him a terrorist.

Líder del PAN tacha de "terroristas" a Marcos y opositores a La Parota

The recovery from hurricanes and mudslides in the region is ongoing. I've just received an update from Kenneth Wood in Santiago Atitlan on plans to rebuild the hospital there. Click MORE for the update. And please donate.

Dear Friends of Santiago Atitlan,

Happy Semana Santa!

Pueblo a Pueblo is pleased to inform you that after many weeks of generous
volunteer labor on the part of our webmaster, Marc Quimbey at Westwind
Studios in Arkansas; our new website is up and running. It reflects many of
the new initiatives that we have begun, as the people of Santiago Atitlan
recover from the disaster. These include:

Hospitalito Atitlan: The decision has been made that the Hospitalito cannot
return to its original site in Panabaj. Together, Fundacion K'aslimaal (the
Hospitalito governing board) and Pueblo a Pueblo have begun a Capital
Campaign to purchase land and build a new, permanent Hospitalito for the
community. The interim Hospitalito continues to provide medical services as
we develop these plans.

Mother/Child Program: With the new website, Pueblo a Pueblo and the
Hospitalito have launched this individual sponsorship program to ensure the
health of pregnant T'zutujil women and their infants. U.S. sponsors will be
able to develop an Email relationship with their "adopted" mother and infant
and the $25/mo. sponsorship will fund prenatal, delivery, post-natal and
well-baby care to the neediest, at-risk mothers and their infants.

Child Education and Health Program: The children of Panabaj who survived
the mudslides, have endured the loss of their family members, friends and
homes. Most are now living in temporary shelters. This sponsorship program
is designed to support a local Panabaj, T'zutujil school and ensure that
these 500 children can continue their education, receive a daily healthy
meal and health care services. Each sponsor can communicate via email with
their child, sharing words of encouragement, pictures and support. Besides
individual sponsors, Pueblo a Pueblo is particularly interested in
developing sponsorship by groups of U.S. students (classrooms, Spanish
clubs, etc.) - providing educational and service learning opportunities for
U.S. students.

Other improvements you will note on the website:
Volunteer information - both medical and non-medical.
Santiago Atitlan Update page that feature new events every two
weeks.
Medical and non-Medical Wish Lists.
Other Disaster Relief initiatives.
Secure on-line donation capacity that will reduce our overhead
expenses.

On behalf of our Board of Directors, let me take this opportunity to again
thank you for your support of the T'zutujil people. It is an honor for us
to assist them to realize their dreams and to work with the many dedicated,
thoughtful and caring volunteers and donors. We encourage you to visit our
new website and appreciate any assistance you can give in promoting this
cause to your family and friends.

Kenneth Wood
President
Pueblo a Pueblo Inc.
P.O. Box 11486
Washington, DC 20008

tel: (202) 302-0622
www.puebloapueblo.org

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

The Frente Petenero contra las Represas is active again. On this year's day of celebration of rivers they demonstrated again against dams on the Usumacinta. At the same time, I was floating down the Usu in a one-man raft, to the far side of Yaxchilan, and exploring the neck of the meander with guide Juan Mayo, from Frontera Corozal.

PrensaLibre.com - Rechazan edificación de represas

Here's an overlay of a Piedras Negras map, from Stephen Houston's team at PN, that Ron Canter and I placed on Google Earth over the weekend.

PiedrasNegrasOverlay.kmz

In 2004 Sheri Tingey lent me an Alpacka raft that I enjoyed for 3 days on the Usumacinta before it was, let's say, lost. The 2006 version that I just bought seems even better, tougher, and has more tie-down loops standard.

I just found this BusinessWeek interview with Sheri.

Tough Rivers, Tougher Rafts

2005 was a good year for Sheri and Alpacka:

Backpacker.com - Editors' Choice 2005

Humedales corren grave riesgo en Guatemala - Prensa Latina

El río Usumacinta, el más extenso y caudaloso del país y que marca buena parte de la frontera con México, se ha preservado bastante bien, pero el gobierno realiza estudios para construir allí varias hidroeléctricas que le causarían un daño permanente.

This is a couple of years old, but it is an unusually detailed report, in English, on Plan Puebla Panama and the resistance to it. I'll look for an update.

Americas Program | Citizen Action Series: Resisting the Plan Puebla-Panama

Arte contemporáneo, irrumpe en la frontera sur - El Universal Online - Cultura

Independent Online Edition > World Politics - Map of the world may prove the Chinese beat Columbus to America

Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon (EPIRB) - USCG Navigation Center

I've posted an annotated Usumacinta tour, minus the Canter maps (too big a file for the system) on the Google Earth Community forum.

Google Earth Community: Maya Usumacinta Tour

Here again is my latest version that includes Ron Canter's overlay maps, and starts and finishes in my NYC neighborhood:

The Daily Glyph - Improved Google Earth Usu Map

And other recent posts on GE and OS X:

The Daily Glyph - Google Earth, OS X and offline

The Daily Glyph - Garmin GPS Mac OS X compatible

The statement on the Mexican web page does not mention hydroelectric power or the Usumacinta. But the recently signed pact is a new declaration of the old Plan Puebla Panama and bears watching.

México - Presidencia de la República | Actividades

Iniciativa Energética Mesoamericana.

I've tinkered with the Usumacinta River tour for Google Earth that I posted a few weeks back. I fit Ron Canter's hand-drawn maps to the terrain a little better and changed the views on a few spots. Here's the revised version.

New York to the Usumacinta and Back (Revised 1/3/2006)

UPDATE:

See this post for links to many more Usumacinta River maps, overlays, and tours:
The Daily Glyph - FAMSI Report - SCHERER: Tixan, SDL

If you need one, buy before Jan. 15 to avoid a price rise. Great packboat!

Alpacka Raft - Denali Llama

At the close of a report (from Dec. 12) on plans for a Central American oil refinery and a gas pipeline from Mexico to Panama, the Guatemalan minister of Foreign Relations, Jorge Briz, is quoted as saying there are no plans for a dam on the Usumacinta.

PrensaLibre.com - Instalación de refinería se decidirá hasta 2006

Aseguró que ni México ni Guatemala consideran construir la megahidroeléctrica en el río Usumacinta.

The Google Earth application for Mac OS X has just been leaked in a beta version, and of course I had to play with it. I've done a first stab at a tour of the Usumacinta River, starting and ending in New York City. I've also done an overlay of Ron Canter's hand drawn maps, based on his study and travel on the river. Ron has a wealth of information on Maya sites and trails that adds a lot to the already spectacular 3D display that Google has provided.

The file below is large (8.4mb) but it can be opened in the Google Earth application. Depending on your choices for other overlays, it runs pretty smoothly.

New York to the Usumacinta and Back (updated and improved 2:45am)

Threats and bribes make no difference to the leader of one community that is affected by the dam construction in Nayarit.

La lucha contra la presa El Cajón, aun "a costa de mi vida", advierte ejidatario

Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences faces financial troubles and understaffing.

Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/04/2005 | Dinosaur museum is itself threatened

The academy raised money to establish the DNA lab and equip it with an automated sequencer that reads DNA extracted from tissue samples. It has raised $1.3 million of $5 million needed to fund staff and other equipment and endow it.

The academy used the DNA lab to help determine that a catfish found in a river in Chiapas, Mexico, was a previously undocumented species.

Here are my previous posts on that catfish, Lacantunia Enigmatica.

There is an urgent letter to biologists that is making the rounds, concerning threats to river life presented by dam plans in Mesoamerican rivers. I'll post it, in English and Spanish, on the jump to this page (click MORE).

Dear friends of MesoAmerican rivers:

This letter is going out to a sampling of ichthyologists and others concerned with Mesoamerican rivers. If it resonates with you, please share it widely. We should all be deeply concerned about the potential catastophic changes which could affect Mesoamerican rivers from Chiapas to the Choco as a by product of infrastructure projects related to PPP, CAFTA, SIEPAC and other manifestations of the Free Trade movement. According to a study by the Conservation Strategy Fund, no less than 381 hydroelectric dams are currently proposed for the region, with further proposals possible.
Given the high proportion of diadromous fishes and shrimps in these rivers, the potential is for numerous extirpations, leading to catastrophic ecosystem alterations, some of them in high profile protected areas created specifically to preserve biodiversity. The precedent exists in the larger West Indian islands, where the native fresh water fauna is similar, and where drastic alterations have been documented by Pringle, et al. in Puerto Rico and Fievet, et al. in Guadeloupe. In our own work in Costa Rica and Panama, the Talamanca Stream Biomonitoring Program of Asociacion ANAI has shown that 71 – 100% of the individual fish (and virtually all of the shrimp) in high gradient streams within and downstream of the La Amistad International Park are of diadromous forms. In terms of biomass, the diadromous proportion must be even higher.
This matter came to our attention as a result of concerns by indigenous communities who would be directly affected by dams proposed for the Changuinola/Teribe watershed in Panama. However, this is just one manifestation of a much larger concern. There is discussion, and in some cases (Rio Pacuare in Costa Rica, Rio Usumacinta in Guatemala/Mexico) effective opposition to hydro projects. However, in no other case of which we are aware has the phenomenon of diadromy and consequent potential ecosystem effects been brought to bear – even though it would appear to be the chief common concern in all the watersheds of the Mesoamerican isthmus.
We are doing what we can within our work area in Panama and Costa Rica, and are working on publication of several papers and opinion pieces. However, it strikes us as curious that none of the biologists of greater accomplishment and renown in the 9 country region have spoken out. We invite you to do so, or to share concerns with us. If a high percentage of existing infrastructure plans are realized, we shall all be left with a great deal less to study. Please share this information widely.
We hope (pending funding) to be able to attend the Ecological Society of America’s conference “Ecology in an Era of Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities”, in Merida, Mexico, January 8-12, 2006, and for Maribel Mafla of our group to present a student paper on this theme. We were invited to host a workshop on the issue, but simply did not have time to devote to an organizing task of this magnitude. However, Ms. Mafla’s presentation might provide an excellent opportunity to accomplish the same ends less formally by convening a discussion group with a wider regional reach than we can bring to bear.
Thank you for your attention and please spread the word. Feel free to contact me at this address or Ms. Mafla at mmafla@anaicr.org with questions or comments.

Sincerely,

William O. McLarney, Ph.D.
Director, Talamanca Stream Biomonitoring Project

Estimados amigos de los rios Mesoamericanos:

Esta carta va dirigida a diversos ictiologos y otros preocupados por los rios Mesoamericanos. Si resuena con usted, favor de compartirlo por todas partes. Todos debemos de preocuparnos profundamente con los cambios catastroficos que podrian ocurrir en los rios Mesoamericans, desde Chiapas hasta el Choco, como productos derivados de proyectos de infraestructura relacionados con PPP, CAFTA, SIEPAC y demas manifestaciones del movimiento del Libre Comercio. Segun un estudio por el Conservation Strategy Fund, no menos de 381 represas hidroelectricas son actualmente propuestas por la region, con la posibilidad de aun mas propuestas.
Dado la alta proporcion de peces y camarones diadromos en estos rios, la potencial es de extirpaciones numerosos llevando a alteraciones ecologicas catastroficas, algunos de ellas en areas protegidas de alto perfil, creadas especificamente para preservar la biodiversidad. Existe precedente en las islas mas grandes de las Antillas, donde la fauna acuatica nativa es parecida, donde casi todos los rios son represados, y donde alteraciones drasticas han sido documentados por Pringle, et al. en Puerto Rico y Fievet, et al. en Guadeloupe. En nuestro propio trabajo en Costa Rica y Panama, el Programa de Biomonitoreo de Rios y Quebradas de la Asociacion ANAI ha mostrado que 71 – 100% de los individuos de peces (y casi la totalidad de los camarones) en rios y quebradas de alta gradiente dentro y aguas abajo del Parque Internacional La Amistad pertenecen a especies diadromas. En terminos de biomasa, la proporcion de animales diadromos tiene que ser aun mas alta.
Este asunto llego a nuestra atencion a consecuencia de inquietudes expresados por comunidades indigenas quienes serian directamente afectadas por las represas propuestas en la cuenca Changuinola/Teribe en Panama. Sin embargo, esta es una sola manifestacion de un problema mucho mas grande. Hay discusion, y en algunos casos (Rio Pacuare en Costa Rica, Rio Usumacinta en Guatemala/Mexico) oposicion efectiva a proyectos hidroelectricos. Sin embargo, no no estamos enterados de ningun otro caso en que se han aplicado el argumento basado en el fenomeno de diadromia y los efectos consecuentes en ecosistemas – aunque parece ser la amenaza principal que comparten todas las cuencas del istmo Mesoamericano.
Estamos haciendo lo que podemos dentro de nuestra area de trabajo en Panama y Costa Rica, y estamos trabajando en varios articulos y obras de opinion. Sin embargo, nos sorprende que ninguno de los biologos de mayor capacidad y renombre en una region de 9 paises han denunciado el problema. Los invitamos a ustedes a hablar claramente, y a compartir sus preocupaciones con nosotros. Si logran realizar una alta porcentaje de los planes de infraestructura existentes, todos quedaremos con mucho menos para estudiar. Favor de compartir esta informacion extensivamente.
Esperamos (pendiente financiamiento) poder asistir en la conferencia del Ecological Society of America “Ecologia en una Epoca de Globalizacion: Desafios y Oportunidades” en Merida, Mexico, 8-12 de enero, 2006, y que Maribel Mafla de nuestro grupo presente un papel estudiantil sobre este tema. Fuimos invitados a presentar un taller sobre la cuestion, pero sencillamente no tuvimos tiempo para dedicar a una tarea organizativa de esta magnitud. Sin embargo la presentacion de la Sta. Mafla podria proveer una oportunidad excelente para lograr las mismas finalidades de una manera menos formal, por medio de convenir un grupo de discusion con un alcance geografico mucho mas amplio que lo de nosotros como una organizacion local.
Gracias por su atencion y por favor de difundir esta informacion. No tengan duda en contactarme en este direccion o a Sta. Mafla en mmafla@anaicr.org con preguntas o comentarios.

Atentamente,

William O. McLarney, Ph.D.
Director, Programa de Biomonitoreo de Rios deTalamanca

Well, they took our name, but if they want to be known as an international destination for their rivers, they may work to protect them.

caribepreferente.com - Tabasco busca convertirse en destino internacional con "Ríos Mayas"

A report on last week's meeting of Mexican and Guatemalan opponents of the revived plan for hydroelectric dams on the Usumacinta.

PrensaLibre.com - Rechazan megahidroeléctricas

Nature Conservancy News Room - Nature Conservancy Statement on the Impact of Hurricane Stan

After huricane Stan.

Reuters AlertNet - Mexican villagers homeless, scared after hurricane

It used to take 10 years for failed Usumacinta hydroelectric plans to come back around. This time it was only a year and a half. The local people, particularly in Guatemala, are much better organized to resist. And we will join them. Thanks to Charles Golden for the heads up on this.

PrensaLibre.com - EDITORIAL Renace fantasma del Usumacinta

And three more links from Alfonso Morales:

Propone Fox impulsar plan Puebla-Panamá con proyectos energéticos | 2005-11-02 | La Crónica de Hoy

El Economista -- Fox llama a la integración hemisférica en Cumbre

Terra - AMLO critica a Fox por plan energTerra - AMLO critica a Fox por plan energetico

From Charles Golden, a link to this report on new problems faced by the villagers around the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala.

Mother Jones - On the Banks of the Chixoy

A note from Ron Canter:

FAMSI recently added the entire report from Satterthwaite's groundbreaking Piedras Negras expeditions in the 1930s. It is a gold mine. Satterthwaite summarized the Usu's navigability with 'It is apparently never practicable from a point a little below Porvenir ... to an impassable rapid just above a point called San Jose'. This is exaclty what we found by going down the river and mapping the rapids and determining their difficulty. It is later sources that have gotten fuzzy, probably because they didn't have to move big stela offsite by the easiest route. One of the editors of the PN reports is some fellow named Charles.

That would be one of our other pals, Charles Golden.

FAMSI - Research Department - Piedras Negras Archaeology, 1931-1939

This short report links deforestation, excessive grazing lands, flooding from Hurricane Stan, and silting of hydroelectric plants.

El Universal Online - Miami Herald - NGO: Deforestation exacerbates flooding

Usumacinta River - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Time to update the wikipedia entry.

usumacinta :: gada.be

With new efforts underway to create a binational forum (Mexico - Guatemala) to protect the Usumacinta watershed, Christopher Shaw has written an open letter to those currently in discussions. It also provides an introduction to the history and the issues, as well as our efforts over the last 10 years to study and document the river.

Please contact me for more information. dave.pentecost [at] gmail.com

Click MORE below to see the complete letter.

AN OPEN LETTER ON THE USUMACINTA RIVER WATERSHED

Frans and Trudi Blom first brought the idea of conservation to the watershed
in the 1950s by proposing a section of the Selva Lacandona be reserved for
the Lacandon Maya. Their idea was as much the preservation of culture as of
habitat, and this principle- that indigenous integrity and habitat are
inextricably linked in the watershed- should help guide any future
conservation planning. Conservationists working in the region like Nacho
March, Ron Nigh, Fernando Ochoa, Roan Balas McNab and others have all
acknowledged and upheld the principle in their work.

The first large hydro project on the Usumacinta was proposed in the 1980s,
and would have stretched all the way up the Pasion and Lacantun tributaries,
flooding Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan, among other known and unknown Maya
sites. At that time, the Guatemalan shore was held by rebels, whose presence
discouraged illegal logging, poaching, and looting. It also discouraged dam
engineers. In 1985 Jefferey Wilkerson's groundbreaking article in National
Geographic brought the river and its glories to widespread public
consciousness for the first time. Additionally the Guatemalan journalist
Victor Perera wrote about the river in The Nation and in his books The Last
Lords of Palenque and Unfinished Conquest, and Jan de Vos chronicled the
region in his magisterial series of histories. Ultimately the hydro project
failed under the weight of its own disincentives: siltation, geology,
seismic activity, distance from markets, politics, etc., but the outcry from
conservationists, archeologists, writers, and the public helped. It also
established a pattern.

A thriving seasonal business in wilderness tourism began after the Wilkerson
article. The river and its environs became a favorite destination of river
travelers, amateur Mayanists and archaeologists, birders and wildlife
tourists.

Carlos Salinas proposed a smaller but still monumental hydro project in
1990, and completed the periferico surrounding the Montes Azules reserve.
Articles in the New York Times, and op-ed pieces by Homero Aridjis
suggesting a binational reserve for the area, helped defeat this incarnation
of the idea.

In the late nineties a consortium of scientists, and government and
non-governmental organizations met in San Cristobal de las Casas, under the
auspices of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Florida,
to identify the extent and types of habitat remaining the region, and to
draw maps of the watershed. The conference addressed many of the
jurisdictional and administrative questions that still bedevil the idea. A
link to the conference report:

http://www.law.ufl.edu/cgr/publications/usumacinta_river.pdf

The Zapatista Rebellion in 1994 and '95, and the Guatemalan peace accords in
1996, reshaped the political lines in the watershed. As a direct
consequence, and with the dramatic fall of the peso, bandits began robbing
raft trips, ending wilderness travel in the corridor. One of the most
promising tourist activities, with the least potential impact and the most
possibility for helping conservation, archaeology, and cultural
preservation, ended. Illegal activity of all types took over the corridor.

The Mexican army, which pervaded the Zapatista region, had little effect on
river crime, may have abetted it. In Guatemala, the absence of the expelled
CPR communities, which had helped keep the selva safe and secure, now left
it open to invasion, illegal logging, smuggling of immigrants, arms,
artifacts, and drugs. (Many members of those communities now work as
Defensores, but their numbers are few, and they are poorly paid.) The region
continued in a state of low-grade terror and occupation for ten years.

In 2001, a consortium of NGOs and regional environmental groups (many of
whom had participated in the 1990 conference) met in Belize to discuss the
future of the Maya Forest, and to turn over the planning and implementation
of programs from Washington-based organizations to regionally-based ones. I
was present at that meeting and read from my book Sacred Monkey River. Among
the conference's recommendations was a system of wilderness trails, rustic
back-country posadas, an emphasis on non-motorized travel in back-country
areas; residencies and scholarships for artists, scientists, and scholars;
and principles of sustainable forest use for new communities in the
multiple-use zones.

In 2002, When the Mexican government under Fox proposed, under its Plan
Pueblo Panama, the latest mega-dam at Boca Del Cerro, (and its subsequent
smaller incarnations) Dave Pentecost and I started Rios Mayas. We circulated
a letter to President Fox explaining why previous dams had been abandoned,
why it remained impossible to build them without destroying an unknown
wealth of knowledge, habitat, and living culture. The letter demanded the
conduct of environmental impact studies, the development of alternate energy
sources for the watershed, and permanent binational protections for the
river. Our letter attracted the assistance of Homero Aridjis, and the
signatures of more than 200 scientists, artists, writers, and citizens from
Guatemala, Mexico, the United States, Europe and Canada. In November of 2002
Pentecost and I met at Montes Azules with reporters from the New York Times
and National Public Radio, and conducted a press conference at Mexico City.
Our effort was covered in numerous papers in Mexico, Guatemala, and the
U.S., and the text of the letter appeared in its entirety in Progreso. We
make no claims to our effectiveness, but soon after our letter appeared,
reports of reduced dam heights and alternate designs began filtering out of
the CFE, and within a year we learned that the project had been shelved.

None of our demands have been addressed at this time, however, and as long
as the river is unprotected it remains vulnerable. The corridor itself is
unstable and crime ridden. Despite a few safe descents in recent years, no
secure wilderness recreation can be conducted, nor can many kinds of
scientific research. In 2004 narco-traffickers at Piedras Negras blocked a
WCS jaguar study in the PNSL, and in 2003 a Rios Mayas mapping expedition
was robbed, even though members of the expedition, including Rios Mayas
co-founder Dave Pentecost, Ron Canter, and Tammy Ridenour, of Guatemala
City, managed to complete the trip and make new discoveries.

And, in fact, numerous discoveries have been made in the years since the
Boca del Cerro threat. Stephen Houston and Hector Escobedo's important dig at Piedras Negras was completed. Charles Golden's mapping and exploration of newly discovered and overlooked Maya sites in the Sierra del Lacandon continues to break new ground. Ron Canter's discovery and paper on navigational bollards on the river has been completed. A new catfish species, Lacantunia enigmatica, has been described. What these discoveries and ongoing research-carried out with
little financial support and under restricted conditions-- demonstrate is that the corridor itself and adjacent remote areas of the watershed remain incompletely explored and almost completely unknown.

I don't need to underscore to you the irreplaceable magnitude of knowledge,
life, and indigenous wisdom that would be lost if such a treasure were to be
flooded or developed in a thoughtless and destructive manner. Pressures for
energy, agriculture, and development will only increase. That is why your
work is so important and why the Usumacinta must be protected-in some
achievable and practical fashion-in perpetuity. The time to do it is now.
The knowledge exists. The groundwork has been laid. All that's required is
the political will, the money, and an encompassing vision and philosophy to
carry it out.

The watershed now has a twenty year history of thought and planning. I have
prepared a list of basic principles, based on our Fox letter, the
discussions at previous conferences, and the model of protected areas in
other parts of the world, that we hope will help guide any long term
programs. We hope they would be considered non-technocratically, and based
on common sense principles and compassion:

-No new roads in the corridor or contiguous protected areas. Sections of
some existing roads may be closed.

-No new cross-current structures: bridges, dams, power lines, etc.

-The cooperation of local indigenous officials in the planning, design, and
implementation of a corridor plan. Models exist at Uaxactun, Peten, and
Emiliano Zapata, Chiapas, among other places in both nations. Both are
imperfect, as any model must be in such a volatile area. But both have been
in existence for long enough that the record of their failures as well as
their successes would be instructive.

-The 2001 Belize meeting found broad support for a system of scholarships,
residencies, and fellowships for scholars, artists, and scientists visiting
the area. Such a system would, for little cost, produce a steady stream of
scholarly and popular articles, art, films, journalism, and new discoveries.
Residents would come from the Maya area itself, and from other parts of the
world.

-Within the corridor a loose but binding system of protocols for land-use
would regulate agriculture in favor of organic and intensive techniques,
forestry for sustainable yields, the harvest of wild plant and animal
species for sustainability, and construction for minimum short and long-term
impacts.

-The establishment of a cadre of guards, maintenance workers, rangers, and
guides, all drawn from local populations that would be trained and paid a
reasonable middle-class wage, with regular hikes and benefits, sufficient to
discourage corruption. Rangers and guards would receive extensive education
and training in languages, education, ecology, etc

-A system of fees for day, week and longer uses, with requirements for
equipment, visas, and camping standards that would be imposed collectively
and shared equally among the incorporated communities within the corridor.
These would be paid by users at official entry points like Bethel, Corozal,
Tenosique, etc.. It would be affordable, but enough to substantially
enhance-and in fact support-local communities. Local populations would come
and go without interference.

-Local business grants for legal river transport, rustic posadas etc. (under
the canopy), and other commercial concessions.

-Ongoing studies in water quality, aquatic and wildlife biology, and other
disciplines. While we applaud the WMF concept of preserving the "cultural
landscape," we missed any mention in your email of the river itself, which
is the richest resource of all Chiapas and Guatemala. Our firm and
non-negotiable position is that whatever can be done to maintain and improve
water quality must be done. This includes habitat protection at higher
altitudes, sewage treatment or abatement, standards for logging and grazing
etc.

-A system of back-country posadas, campgrounds, and designated camping areas
served by the river, maintained and patrolled foot and mule trails, and a
minimum number of existing airstrips.

-A system of zones designated residential, agricultural, archaeological,
multiple use, and core habitat. Core areas would include the current Parque
National Sierra del Lacandon, Sierra Cojolite, the San Jose Canyon, and
existing biological corridors, etc.

-Considerations for other value-added economic activity.

-A binational commission to oversee proposed development, businesses, and
wilderness use in the corridor.

All these principles have been tested and implemented in similar areas
around the world where humans and nature coexist in harmony, such as the
Adirondack Park of northern New York State, Lake Baikal, in Siberia, and
smaller and more compact protected areas. The Usumacinta, because of its
history, the importance of its singular archeological, cultural and
ecological heritage and resources-and especially the distinct self-contained
geography that sets it apart-make it a natural for such planning. Let me
emphasize again that examples exist with long-term records of success. Their
experience is that such programs enhance broad-based economic activity.
Undoubtedly other NGOs and government agencies will object to these points
on various grounds, many of them legitimate, driven by their specialized
interests. We offer general principles only, but stand ready to make more
specific suggestions at the appropriate time. However, as generalists with
deep and wide experience in the region and elsewhere, we do hope you will
see the wisdom of this approach to beginning the process.

We also hope you may resist the inevitable appeals to abandon ambition in
favor of the "possible." To make something that will work, that will last,
that will matter, will require not only stable economies, peaceful
democratic succession, and cooperation among existing and often mutually
hostile agencies and NGOs, it will require faith, courage, and an
overarching vision not driven by parochial concerns. Fortunately for such a
goal, many pieces of the larger system are in place already, at least
nominally, and many local communities have already begun to think in terms
of the long run.

Christopher Shaw
October 10, 2005

Newsday.com: Flooding in Mexico, C. America Kills Three

With the latest season of Survivor taking place in the Peten in Guatemala (in Yaxha, hence the tribe name) my fellow Usu tribe members have suggested we post some notes on the real Yaxha. We'll gather some information and some links for the curious. Ron Canter has photos and notes from his studies of the area. Chris Shaw has written about Yaxha in his book, "Sacred Monkey River: A Canoe Trip with the Gods" (see the cover and link on the left of this site's main page).

For now, know that Yaxha was an important link in a broad system of Maya river navigation that spanned present day Guatemala and used the rivers from the Usumacinta watershed, on the border with Mexico.

As they say, watch this space for more information. Once we post on Yaxha, I'll come back and update this post with a link to the new one.

UPDATE: Here is Ron's finished report:

The Daily Glyph: Yaxha - The Backstory of the 'Survivor Guatemala' Locale, by Ron Canter

Don't miss it!

Alfonso Morales wrote with what he called old news - a scan of a page from Tabasco Hoy from June 10, about the establishment of a protected area around the canyons of the Usumacinta, in Tabasco. (Click on the image for a large version)

If true, this would prevent the building of a dam at Boca del Cerro, near Tenosique. Alfonso is looking for more information, and I was unable to find a direct link to the report. But the full text of an earlier report by the same local reporter can be found in this entry in a weblog called "My Beloved Tenosique".

Mi querido Tenosique » declaran area natural protegida al cañon del usumacinta

This is just to make sure that the links from this site to the USUMACINTA site are working now that our server move is done.

After notably failing to take a stand against the proposed, now shelved, Usumacinta dam plan, the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) of Mexico has added the watershed to a list that joins UNESCO's World Heritage sites.

Diario.com.mx - Se incorporan 16 nuevos sitios a la Lista de Patrimonio Mundial

No it's not in the Usumacinta, but it may be the largest freshwater fish ever caught, found in the Mekong River.

Science Blog -- Grizzly-sized catfish caught in Thailand -- (Slashdot Effect Version)

For better or worse, Google rules.

Google Print Search: Usumacinta

Here's the first photo of the newly discovered Usumacinta watershed catfish that I've seen. We ate catfish right out of the river 2 years ago. Were they Lacantunia?

New Catfish Species Discovered

If you have a fast connection, this site offers 3D rotations of the skull of the Usumacinta catfish.

Digimorph - Chiapas catfish, Lacantunia enigmatica

From Tabasco Hoy to CNN, Lacatunia Enigmatica is finally hitting the news after millions of years in the Usumacinta watershed.

CNN.com - Researchers identify new species - Jun 15, 2005

Tabasco Hoy || Descubren especie de peces en el Usumacinta

More on the unusual catfish recently found in the Usumacinta River watershed.

Researchers find new family of catfish | Science Blog

From the report:

Discovery of new families of living vertebrates is rare; in ichthyology there have been just two new families discovered in the past 60 years: the coelacanth in 1938 and the megamouth shark in 1983.

Summary of successes and challenges, from Chihuahua to Chiapas.

Mexico environmentalists see bright spots in a tough struggle

A new catfish, Lacantunia enigmatica, is puzzling icthyologists. It's been placed in a new genus and family all its own.

PFK Fish News | Lacantunia catfish placed in new family

I got my annual shot of inspiration yesterday at the American Visionary Art Museum when we took two big vans full of Girls Club folks down to Baltimore. Too quick, but a brilliant blast of light and hope from Rebecca Hoffberger, the director and visionary.

Why is this post in the "Watery Way" category? Here's a page on their current show:

American Visionary Art Museum - Holy H2O: Fluid Universe

Good review of the arguments over the Montes Azules Reserve and the charges that there is bioprospecting by transnationals going on there. (click More to see the whole article)

ENVIRONMENT-MEXICO:
Montes Azules Reserve at the Eye of the Storm

ENVIRONMENT-MEXICO:
Montes Azules Reserve at the Eye of the Storm

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, May 18 (IPS) - Located in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas, the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve brings together an explosive mix of irregular human settlements, guerrilla groups, the logging and burning of forests, plundering of species, and opposing visions of how to manage this natural wealth.

The 331,200-hectare Montes Azules Reserve is at the centre of Mexico's greatest environmental conflict, and in its management the present and future challenges of other reserves around the world come into play, Julia Carabias, former Mexican environment secretary, told Tierramérica.

Carabias is one of this year's recipients of the United Nations Environment Programme's Champions of the Earth award.

The reserve and the surrounding Lacandona jungle constitute the most important humid tropical reserve in North America and contain the biggest supplies of freshwater in Mexico. They hold most of the country's tropical trees, as well as 33 percent of its reptiles, 80 percent of butterfly species and 32 percent of birds.

''The region is plundered by foreign companies and interests linked to bioprospecting, who say the indigenous people living there are a bother, and so they force them out,'' said Miguel Angel García, coordinator of Maderas del Pueblo del Sureste, a grassroots association working in the area.

But Carabias says those arguments are ''fallacious''.

They are accusations that ''use terms like biopiracy and bioprospecting, which cause a reaction, but they don't know what they're talking about,'' said the former environment secretary, now member of a non-governmental organisation that runs a research station in Montes Azules, where nature reserve managers are trained.

Reserve director José Zúñiga agrees: ''There is a great deal of (false or exaggerated information) about Montes Azules, while the results of the programmes under way and the crude and evident realities garner little interest.''

The official told Tierramérica that in the reserve 85 percent of the tree cover remains intact and that the process of relocation -- not displacement -- of the indigenous populations, who he says moved to the reserve without authorisation in the first place, is running smoothly, while the research programmes are regulated and conducted in a professional manner.

''There is no bioprospecting going on,'' he maintained.

Working in Montes Azules, declared a reserve in 1978 by the Mexican government, are various governmental agencies, along with a dozen NGOs, and there are research projects involving funding from the United Nations, European Union and foreign universities.

''There are very strong and unyielding viewpoints, and it is all a product of political posturing and diverse interests,'' a foreign researcher who works in the area told Tierramérica, requesting anonymity ''to avoid being attacked.''

Since the 1970s Montes Azules has withstood heavy pressures resulting from social, political and even religious problems, which are manifest in new human settlements, expanding unsustainable agriculture, and environmental destruction from fire and logging.

This year around 300 hectares of the reserve were burned when local peasant farmers lit fires to clear their plots of land.

Conflict in the area intensified in 1994 with the appearance in Chiapas of the leftist Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), led by the now famous ''Subcomandante Marcos''.

Some of the EZLN's social bases are in the Lacandona jungle, including Montes Azules, where they arrived after fleeing violence or were ordered there by EZLN leaders. But there are also indigenous peoples who oppose the Zapatistas and many have moved to the area simply looking for a plot of land to grow food for survival.

Environmentalists maintain that the pressures on the reserve and the Lacandona jungle, which together cover 500,000 hectares, are immense.

A century ago the jungle encompassed nearly two million hectares, and in that time the human population has grown from fewer than 20,000 to more than 600,000.

The reserve and the jungle area ''are losing their viability little by little,'' warned then-minister of environment Víctor Lichtinger in 2002.

Surrounded today by several military barracks that were set up following the emergence of the EZLN, the reserve also attracts interest from transnational pharmaceutical and seed producing companies.

''It also brings with it a serious and complex agrarian problem dating to the 1970s, when the government at the time handed over farmland to indigenous groups, with the only aim to plunder the timber in the forest'' they left behind, said Maderas del Pueblo's García.

According to Zúñiga, director of the reserve that until 2000 did not have an integrated management plan, there are 15,000 Chole, Lacandon, Tzeltzal, Tzotzil and Tojolabal indigenous peoples living in the area with legally recognised rights. There are also 500 people living there who are considered invaders.

He noted that thanks to negotiations with the invading indigenous groups over the past five years, half of them had left the reserve. Carabias attributed that achievement to the current environment secretary, Alberto Cárdenas.

The talks will continue in order to remove the more recent arrivals from the reserve, said Zúñiga.

As in most matters related to Montes Azules, there is no agreement on the numbers. García says that the people with recognised rights in the reserve number no more than 5,600, and that the other ''invaders'' total almost 2,000.

In his opinion, the so-called relocations of the indigenous peoples are in fact expulsions.

''There could be a reserve with people, and it could be left in their (the indigenous groups') hands,'' said the activist. But such a model contradicts the ''concept of biosphere reserves without people and against people, which is the approach of Montes Azules and was imposed by the developed countries,'' he added.

''Now biodiversity is converted into genetic banks, of great interest to the biotechnology, agro-food, and pharmaceutical industries, and for water bottling companies,'' said García.

When asked to name who he believes to be working for those interests and conducting the bioprospecting he denounces, García responded that it is difficult to do so, ''because the transnational firms hide behind local institutions and universities.''

On the official list of the reserve's director of the work and research being carried out in Montes Azules, there are no transnationals.

Ten projects are in motion, including flower species inventories, the habitat situation in cavern areas, the impacts of ''anthropological disturbance'' on mammals, a study of the diversity of vanilla plants, and others focused on birds and hunting in the area.

The institutions conducting this work are largely Mexican, although one of the registered groups is a university from the U.S. state of California.

(*Originally published May 14 by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.)

New Scientist Where have all the wild rivers gone? - News

A short edited Quicktime video.
Two young Lacandones bringing a cayuco, or dugout canoe, into shore at Lake Naha, Chiapas, Mexico.
4/4/2005

Cayucos, Naha QT, 2:30, 50MB.

UPDATE: Smaller file, iPod format
Cayucos, Naha m4v, 2:30, 18MB.

Via Chris Shaw, I just received a letter from Bill McLarney, Proyecto de Biomonitoreo de Rios, Associacion ANAI. He is trying to raise awareness of the threat of dams in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Click More to see his full letter.

I'll do some more hunting. Here are some links on this situation:

Ramsar Sites Database

Parks in Peril | Costa Rica | La Amistad/Bocas del Toro | Protected Area

I just want to contribute a note of personal support for all involved in trying to openly and intelligently discuss the issue of dams in Bocas del Toro. And to urge all involved to do what they can. The role of ANAI will continue to be as a disinterested provider of biological information, to which all concerned are welcome. What is most frustrating is being blocked in our attempts to gather this information, apparently by the same Panamanian government agency which should be asking for information. (And which, at the level of ANAM-Changuinola, in the person of Valentin Pineda, they are asking for.)
Of course you, the Naso and the Ngobe tend to see this as a local issue. (Although the threat of species extirpations in a World Heritage Site can scarcely be considered exclusively "local.") From this side of the border, I recall the hydro plans which were floated 10 years ago for Talamanca, and think "we're next." But the big issue is the possibility of total alteration of the fluvial ecosystems of the entire isthmus, from Chiapas to Darien. (And this comes wrapped in the even larger issue of PPP/TLC - "free trade.") Whether to approach each dam, river or country separately seems to me to be a tactical issue. The fact that partial victories have been achieved on the Pacuare (Costa Rica) and the Usumacinta (Guatemala/Mexico) is encouraging, but it also increases the pressure on sites like Bonyic. At some point, the big issue is going to have to be engaged.
Scaling back to the local (Bonyic, now plus the 3 dams proposed on the Changuinola), it seems to me that above all else what is needed right now is a big stone in the road. This probably implies some sort of legal action, perhaps one with small chance of victory but potential to tie things up for some time. For this reason alone (and there are others) legal assistance is urgently needed.
The second burning need is for publicity. I have made attempts to interest journalists, largely without success. It seems to me that a pristine tropical white water river, a nation of 4,000 people with their own language and culture, the threat of species extirpations in a world heritage site, a revolution in the only monarchy in the hemisphere, and the smell of corruption comprise a muckraking journalist's dream. Why have we collectively failed to interest either the international or Panamanian press? The bigger issue of PPP is also potentially hot. Right now, it strikes me that we need publicity in the Panamanian media and something quick and dirty in some US publication - not a glossy like Audubon, but something like Earth Island Journal used to be. I could do a better job on this part if I were in the
States; will somebody there please help?
I also wonder why there is not much communication/collaboration with other groups facing pieces of the same issue. For instance, before leaving the States I wrote one of the groups involved in the Pacuare struggle, and received no reply.
For our part, ANAI wants very badly to live up to our promises re fish and shrimp surveys. Data generated in similar situations in the islands of the Caribbean (same species, extirpation and total ecosystem alteration following dam construction, and data from Costa Rica showing the presence of "marine" species in headwater rivers) seems very convincing to me, and will be presented. But we really want to do fish surveys in the Changuinola/Teribe and other watersheds of Bocas del Toro - and are in fact contracted to do so by PRODOMA (USAID) as part of a larger biomonitoring capacitation project. But we are blocked by our inability to obtain permits from ANAM.
The alternative is already in motion. On Monday we will receive a visit here in Hone Creek from Felix Sanchez, to work out the details of a plan to train and equip members of the Naso to do presence/absence surveys for diadromous fish and shrimps in Naso territory and upstream, in the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve. This training will be carried out in Costa Rica during the 3 weeks I have left in my current stay. (With recent developments, it appears we will also need to train Ngobe representatives to do the same work in the Changuinola watershed.) While these trainees will not be able to use electrofishing techniques in order to obtain quantitative results, and their work will lack the imprimatur of a Ph.D. biologist, I am confident it will provide the basic information we need to open an informed dialogue about an issue which, to my knowledge, has not even been mentioned in the environmental impact studies carried out so far.
Even though I am confident that we can move efficiently and swiftly to do these studies, we will need to buy time in order for this information to be useful.

Osvaldo, I am writing you and copying a few friends in the US in the hope that we can all spread the word. Please, everybody, think about how you could help. My personal opinion, subject to survey results, is that we are on the brink of a major ecological disaster, and one which is preventable. And it comes wrapped up in a series of economic, social and legal issues which have not been adequately exposed. The one certain thing is that the debate to date has been conducted with an inadequate information base, a fact which negatively affects all concerned.
Thanks to all for your consideration.

Saludes,

Bill McLarney
Proyecto de Biomonitoreo de Rios
Asociacion ANAI

Charles Golden brought this to my attention - it may make his work this spring more difficult.

Last spring we hiked through the Sierra del Lacandon to Piedras Negras and spent the night with Stephen Houston's team there. Now it may be too dangerous to visit.

Guess Nicco and I won't be going there this month.

Reuters AlertNet - Drug traffickers invade Mayan city in Guatemala

Ron Canter found these Maya navigation related reports on the FAMSI website.

Reports Submitted to FAMSI - Kathryn Reese-Taylor - The Eastern Riverine Corridor During the Late Classic Period

Reports Submitted to FAMSI - Matthew D. Moriarty - Investigating an Inland Maya Port: The 2003 Field Season at Trinidad de Nosotros, Peten, Guatemala

The latest from Hermann Bellinghausen on the bridge being constructed in the Montes Azules Bisosphere Reserve. The road will reach all the way to the San Quintin military base and Lake Miramar.

Devastación y despojo, signos del puente sobre el río Azul, en Montes Azules

Ron Canter has released a draft of his Usumacinta River study. This is a project that he has been working on for years, updated with observations he made on our raft trip in the spring of 2004. Another of Ron's studies, and detailed maps, are also on the way.

Download USU Writeup 1-13-05 (Word document)

I ran across this term today (also written as two words, trim tab) and didn't know what it meant. Here's what I found...

An image first used by Buckminster Fuller (and explored in Harold Willen’s 1984 book The Trimtab Factor) is the trim tab on a rudder. To change the direction of a really large ship or airplane, we need a really large rudder, too large a rudder, in fact. The power of the currents of air or water, combined with the size of the rudder, make it almost impossible to move the rudder without breaking it. The solution is to put a tiny rudder, called a trim tab, on the larger rudder. The trim tab moves easily because it’s small. But as it moves, it causes the currents to shift, which makes it easier for the large rudder to move, which in turn makes the even larger ship (or plane) change course. The physical mass of the trim tab is a tiny fraction of the weight of the ship or plane, yet the trim tab determines the vehicle’s course.

The American Revolution illustrates the trim tab effect. The revolution didn’t happen because the majority wanted it. In the early 1770s, only a handful of radical intellectual were thinking the unthinkable of breaking with the biggest naval power on the planet. Even by 1776, support for independence was by no means unanimous or even the majority. Strong elements within the middle and southern colonies wanted to keep the economic and military protection of Britain. Loyalists to the Crown were everywhere. It’s estimated that only 11 percent of the population were actively involved in making the American Revolution happen.

In La Jornada, a report on the wide open illegal traffic in goods and people on the Suchiate and Usumacinta rivers.

Los ríos Suchiate y Usumacinta, "ventana abierta a la libertad" para centroamericanos

I overlooked posting this. Alex Steffen provides the link to a free PDF guide to doing good in the world.

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: The Rough Guide to a Better World

A harrowing tale of immigration from El Salvador to the U.S. by way of the Usumacinta River.

Un milagro llamado "Marito"

La ciudad de Palenque en México fue la última en ser testigo de su paso callado y silencioso, tras cuatro horas en lancha que lo acercaron desde Bethel. Lo que parecía más difícil se convirtió en lo más fácil. "Los coyotes fueron comprando a la policía de todos sitios cada vez que nos paraban para que pudiéramos continuar. En México nos llegaron a parar hasta ocho veces", confirmó la temblorosa voz de "Marito", no por miedo, sino por frío.

The Defensores de la Naturaleza, who administer the Sierra del Lacandon Park in Guatemala, are in charge of a large, USAID funded project to protect the Usumacinta watershed.

PrensaLibre.com - Protegerán cuenca del Usumacinta

A broad coalition continues to build in opposition to the Plan Puebla Panama and the Central American Free Trade Agreement, in the Petén of northern Guatemala. This news report refers to both the Usumacinta dams (for now apparently on hold) and the new roads in the Montes Azules Reserve.

Sectores populares de Guatemala sellan compromiso antineoliberal - Prensa Latina

A bridge is under construction to span the Lacantun River in the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico. It will allow heavy trucks to travel over a new highway through the reserve.

La Jornada - El gobierno dice proteger la selva, pero la agrede construyendo puentes: zapatistas

Local communities are opposing a plan that would dump sewage near the source of the Lacanja River, in the Montes Azules Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico.

Tabasco Hoy || Amenaza obra Montes Azules

The Guatemalan minister of energy and mines has supported Mexican president Vicente Fox's declaration that there are no plans for dams on the Usumacinta.

Tabasco Hoy || Descartan presas en río Usumacinta

A report on the ecological threats posed by the oil industry in the delta of the Usumacinta and Grijalva Rivers.

Diario Olmeca - Atentado: 55 pozos en Pantanos

The Usumacinta River is approaching its peak levels, and some communities may have to be evacuated. This report is the first time in a news story that I've seen the river referred to as the Mono Sagrado, the Sacred Monkey.

Tabasco Hoy || Amenaza a comunidades desbordamiento de río

En alerta máxima se encuentran las autoridades de Protección Civil, luego de que en estos dos últimos días, el caudaloso río Usumacinta subiera en su nivel, faltando poco para que cause filtraciones en las comunidades asentadas sobre la margen del Mono Sagrado.

UPDATE: A search of Spanish Google finds 56 mentions of the phrase "mono sagrado." This entry appears as number 3 on the list. In Google U.S., the same number of entries. This entry appears as number one. Go figure.

In today's Prensa Libre, a report on preservation work in progress at Yaxhá, a Maya site on a series of linked lakes. Chris Shaw and Ron Canter have shown that it was an important point on Maya trade routes, with water access to the entire region.

PrensaLibre.com - La tímida Yaxhá

Thanks to Alfonso for this link to a report on a conference yesterday.

Representatives from Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Nayarit, Jalisco, Tabasco, Puebla and Mexico City met to organize against proposed hydroelectric dams that would displace people and flood their lands. In Chiapas, three dams - Huixtán 1, Huixtán 2 and Quetzalí - would flood 70,000 hectares, including parts of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve.

UPDATE: The link I originally put here has expired. Now the link is to the Google cache. If it does not work, I am putting the entire text on this site. Click "More" below to see it.

La Jornada - Damnificados integran frente contra las presas

Comuneros denuncian incumplimientos del gobierno

Damnificados integran frente contra las presas

ROSA ROJAS ENVIADA

Aguas Calientes, Municipio de Acapulco, Gro., 1º de octubre. Un movimiento nacional de afectados por la construcción de presas empezó a conformarse hoy aquí cuando los testimonios de quienes han visto sus pueblos desaparecer bajo las aguas y de otros que se oponen a que a les suceda lo mismo, fueron embonando como un rompecabezas para llegar a una conclusión: esas grandes presas que los gobiernos dicen que reclama el desarrollo "no van a beneficiar a los pueblos".

"Esos proyectos están en el contexto del Plan Puebla-Panamá (PPP) y son para privatizar y exportar energía eléctrica y permitir que las compañías estadunidenses controlen el agua. Si ya nos están vendiendo el garrafón a 18 y 20 pesos, vamos a acabar pagándoselos a 100 pesos", señalaron múltiples voces surgidas de entre unos 500 delegados de ocho estados del país, más observadores de Guatemala, Francia, Italia y España, que asisten al primer Encuentro Nacional de Afectados por las Presas, convocado por los comuneros opositores a la construcción de la hidroeléctrica La Parota, sobre el río Papagayo.

Una buena parte de los comuneros de Cacahuatepec, comunidad ubicada a unos 50 kilómetros de Acapulco, y de la cual es anexo Aguas Calientes, ha mantenido un movimiento -que ya cumplió 14 meses- de resistencia contra dicho proyecto de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) que inundará 17 mil 500 hectáreas afectando, según la paraestatal, a unos 3 mil campesinos, pero según éstos a unos 25 mil, residentes de 24 poblados. La diferencia en las cifras se debe a que "la CFE toma en cuenta sólo el padrón de comuneros y no a sus familias y los avecindados que también van a ser desplazados si se construye la presa, ¿qué, somos animales?" cuestionaron.

Con un pésimo sentido de la oportunidad, dicha paraestatal coadyuvó a caldear aún más los ánimos de los campesinos en su contra, cuando el jueves por la noche, minutos después de que se inauguraran los trabajos del encuentro, intentó introducir maquinaria en la zona con el argumento de "construir obra social".

Esa maniobra se consideró como "una provocación" por parte de los comuneros, dado que llevan más de nueve meses sosteniendo tres plantones frente a otros tantos anexos de la comunidad para evitar el ingreso de maquinaria para la construcción de la presa. Esto ha costado que dos comuneros, Marco Antonio Suástegui y Francisco Hernández, fueran detenidos "sin orden de aprehensión", golpeados por policías estatales, acusados del secuestro de un ingeniero de la CFE y del robo de dos camionetas. Además, se pasaron 10 días en la cárcel, ahora están libres bajo fianza y sujetos a proceso, asimismo, otras seis órdenes de aprehensión contra integrantes del movimiento.

Durante la mañana de hoy, delegados y delegadas de Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Nayarit, Jalisco, Tabasco, Puebla y el Distrito Federal, integrantes de un centenar de colectivos sociales, escucharon a quienes ya han vivido la experiencia de ser desplazados de sus tierras por la construcción de grandes presas y de haber recibido a cambio promesas incumplidas o, en el mejor de los casos, el pago de indemnizaciones con retrasos de hasta 50 años, como en el caso de los afectados por la presa de La Venta, muy cerca de aquí, también sobre el río Papagayo.

Victoria Ramos Galán, indígena chinanteca oaxaqueña, relató cómo en 1957 vivió el desalojo de su familia y otros cientos más de 12 comunidades chinantecas y mazatecas por la construcción de la presa Miguel Alemán que afectó 52 mil hectáreas de tierras agrícolas y ganaderas; cómo las autoridades los fueron a arrojar a unos galerones en el municipio de San Felipe Cihualtepec, en la zona mixe; cómo les prometieron empleos, luz eléctrica gratis, casa propia de material, tierras, agua potable, calles pavimentadas, créditos, escuelas con infraestructura moderna; cómo nada de eso ha llegado aún. Y ellos perdieron su identidad, y en lugar de las 80 hectáreas que tenía su padre, sólo les repusieron 10.

Habitantes de Jalapa del Marqués, Oaxaca, dieron testimonio a su vez de su oposición a la construcción de una nueva presa en su región. Ellos ya antes fueron desalojados del poblado donde vivían cuando se construyó la presa Benito Juárez, que afectó 7 mil 500 hectáreas, lo que tuvo como consecuencia la pérdida de su cultura, su lengua y la migración de la gente.

Miembros de la organización Cupuri hablaron de las afectaciones sufridas por habitantes de Nayarit, donde se está construyendo la presa de El Cajón, y les han prometido la creación de empleos, "pero 70 por ciento de los trabajadores contratados por la constructora son chiapanecos que han seguido el proceso de construcción de las presas, en Nayarit no hay mano de obra calificada para eso", comentaron.

Integrantes del Frente Chiapaneco contra las Represas informaron por su parte de la resistencia que realizan en aquella entidad fronteriza para evitar la construcción de las presas Huixtán 1, Huixtán 2 y Quetzalí. Las dos primeras sobre el río Santo Domingo; Huixtán 1 afectaría 9 mil hectáreas; la segunda, 4 mil, de las cuales 3 mil son de Guatemala. En la parte mexicana se afectaría casi todo el municipio autónomo de Tierra y Libertad. La Quetzalí, sobre el río Lacantún, inundaría 57 mil hectáreas de selva, incluso en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Montes Azules.

"El gobierno ha metido sus militares para que la gente tenga miedo y no se organice... si nos unimos agarramos experiencias de otros rumbos, y no nos van a sorprender dormidos... éstos son proyectos de los malos gobiernos que nos quieren despojar de la riqueza, de nuestras tierras y de nuestros ríos, este es un cambio de muerte, no un cambio de vida, la tierra es para que viva la gente, para que coma, no para inundarla. Nos llegan a amenazar con los ejércitos, pero nosotros no tenemos miedo, estamos luchando y buscando más compañeros para tener más fuerzas", afirmaron.

Indicaron que en ese afán han ido a Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua y Tailandia para frenar esos proyectos y denunciar que las fumigaciones que realiza el gobierno, "dizque para combatir las plagas", no han tenido ningún beneficio y sí en cambio ha secado sus cafetales y pastos y se han plagado sus huertas de guayaba, limón, naranja, lima, que están llenas de gusanos.

A media mañana la asamblea se galvanizó con el arribo de un contingente de campesinos de Atenco que, machete en mano, entraron gritando: "Fox entiende, la patria no se vende", "La Parota no está sola"... Posteriormente, los comuneros de Cacahuatepec dieron su testimonio de la lucha que han venido dando para evitar la construcción de la presa La Parota. Y ahí quedó esta afirmación: "Estamos plantados, ni un metro de tierra le cederemos a la CFE, cueste lo que cueste".

Other news from Guatemala, regarding the Chixoy dam occupation: the country could maintain its power without it (then why did they go so deeply in debt to build it?), the occupiers have left, the government will investigate the foreigners who they say led the occupation.

PrensaLibre.com - Mercado puede sustituir a Chixoy

AP Spanish | 09/09/2004 | Campesinos abandonan hidroeléctrica tomada en Guatemala

PrensaLibre.com - Oscar Berger: Extranjeros serán investigados

Villagers from the area of the Chixoy dam, largest in Guatemala, have occupied it and demanded reparations for the massacre that occurred when it was constructed.

This appeared in one paragraph in the New York Times, but CNN online is carrying a longer story, from Reuters.

CNN - Mayan Indians seize disputed Guatemalan dam

The governor of Tabasco has announced that he will move to create an Usumacinta Canyon Reserve. This is incredible news for all of us who have been opposing the CFE's proposed dams on the Usumacinta river. Let's see what comes of it.

Tabasco Hoy || MAD, hasta el 2006

El que mayormente me llama la atención para comentarlo con usted, es la decisión, ya tomada por Andrade, de crear la Reserva Ecológica del Cañón del Usumacinta. Esta es una noticia de enorme trascendencia. Quizá esté usted enterado que el Plan Puebla Panamá (PPP) que en los casi cuatro años de gobierno de Fox no ha pasado de ser un proyecto deshilvanado, balbuciente y cuasi quimérico, contempla la construcción de tres grandes hidroeléctricas en la cuenca del alto Usumacinta, que empieza en Tenosique. Y ahí está esa amenaza latente para cuando menos la mitad del territorio tabasqueño.

Y es que de construirse esas tres presas hidroeléctricas en el alto Usumacinta, ello significaría una sentencia de muerte ecológica no sólo para los pantanos de Centla, sino para una porción mayor del territorio tabasqueño.

En previsión de tal calamidad, el gobernador Andrade anuncia la creación de la Reserva del Cañón del Usumacinta, una decisión que le agradecerán los tabasqueños de hoy y de mañana.

Chris Shaw sent this article to me, covering NASA's work in the Peten, Guatemala. Using satellite imaging and on-the-ground studies, they are gaining a better understanding of agriculture and deforestation in the Classic Maya period.

DAAC Study: Mayan Mysteries

Thanks to Alfonso for this link to a report on problems at La Parota dam in Mexico - intimidation of local people by the authorities, known damage to the ecosystem.

La Jornada - Engaños e imposición en la presa La Parota, Campesinos rechazan mísera indemnización y reubicación; hostigamiento a opositores

Today, Mexican President Vicente Fox will tour communities near Benemerito de las Americas, upriver from Frontera Corozal, which have been electrified since June of 2000. These are presumably the result of the power lines visible as you approach Frontera, crossing the ridge at the area known as La Cojolita.

El Economista - Fox inaugurará obras eléctricas en Chiapas

There's some controversy over a 10 peso fee that will be charged all visitors to the waterfront at Frontera Corozal. This is the main point of embarcation to Yaxchilan and other Usumacinta sites, as well as the land and water route to Flores and Tikal. Proceeds will help maintain the small museum in Frontera, but tour operators say it will hold up traffic and will send the wrong message to tourists.

Tabasco Hoy || Cobran entrada a Corozal

Chris Shaw pointed this out to me. One of the many dangers of large dams - vulnerability to earthquakes.

International News Article | Reuters.com

In Mural, a report on a plan to relocate 3,000 residents of "irregular settlements" in the Lacandon forest and the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve. On the same page are links to past stories and to an animated graphic, showing the communities in question and outlining the biodiversity and importance of the region.

mural.com --- Prevén 'sacar' a 3 mil de Montes Azules

In Proceso, Ignacio March is quoted urging the completion of the first relocations of "irregular" communities in the Montes Azules Biosphere reserve. The success of this program is essential, he says, to the preservation of one of the "lungs" of the planet.

Demandan ambientalistas se cumpla la promesa a reubicados

This recent report puts people first in the debate over resources in the Usumacinta watershed.

Agua y biodiversidad en Montes Azules

Chris Shaw will be speaking this week at Old Forge Library in the Adirondacks. He is 90% of the reason that I am working to protect the Usumacinta right now. I've just re-read his book "Sacred Monkey River" and I'm finally beginning to understand what he accomplished by writing it.

Here's a press release (click MORE) about his appearance on July 6 at 7:30 at the library. It includes an interview in which Chris discusses the creation of the book, growing out of an encounter with Victor Perera, who died last year.

Thanks Chris, for all the inspiration.

PRESS INFORMATION JUNE 18, 2004

Contact: Isabella Worthen, Old Forge Library, Old Forge, NY
315-369-6008,
IWorthen@midyork.org

[HEAD] Writer's Book on Mesoamerican River Reflects His Years In
Adirondacks

[SUBHEAD] Christopher Shaw, who wrote Sacred Monkey River in 2000 about extreme canoe trip, will read At Old Forge Library.

June 18, 2004, Saranac Lake, New York: In fall of 1988, the Guatemalan writer Victor Perera picked up a copy of Adirondack Life magazine for the first time. After reading it Perera, who was staying in Blue Mountain Lake, thought he and the editor had interests in common. So he called then-editor Christopher Shaw at the magazine, in Jay, New York, and suggested they meet.

Over dinner a week later Shaw described to Perera a novel he had been writing that took place on a river called the Usumacinta, that drains the rain forest dividing Mexico and Guatemala. At that point Perera was fighting a dam threat on the same river and invited Shaw to join him on a hundred mile raft descent that January. "It was pure coincidence," said Shaw.

The Usumacinta River runs through threatened rain forest past some of the most important and spectacular ruins of Classical Maya. The habitat sustains shrinking populations of monkeys, jaguars, crocodiles, and macaws, and a riparian ecosystem like none other.

The journey changed Shaw's life. On the river they met Guatemalan rebels living in jungle shrouded ruins, and visited the traditional Lacandon Maya at Naha.

"Frankly, it overwhelmed me" Shaw said. "I couldn't get a handle on it." But he continued writing about it.

"I had originally wanted to start a rafting outfit down there," said the former raft guide for Adirondack River Outfitters, in Old Forge. "Then I wound up working at the magazine. I decided to write a novel about the river instead, about some raft guides who get in a jam.

"I went back a number of times, and started working exclusively on the novel. Then I was invited to write a piece for an anthology of nature writing." That piece was his essay, "Empty at the Heart of the World," about the remote region south of Cranberry Lake. The piece won Shaw a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and brought him to the attention of an editor at W.W. Norton. He showed her the half finished novel.

"She liked the novel but was more interested in publishing non-fiction," he said. Unwilling to abandon his research of ten years, Shaw proposed a book that paralleled the novel: "I would run the river myself, all the way, and write about the region's natural and political history, making connections between the canoe and the peoples' world view."

Shaw, who had spend twenty years in the Adirondacks working as a guide, a caretaker and a ski lift operator before joining the magazine, had what it took.

"I had looked around the Usumacinta basin and realized that in an odd way I recognized the territory. It reminded me of the Adirondacks: forested mountains laced with lakes and rivers. The best way to penetrate it, in fact, was by water, as the Maya had, and from my years as a guide I had the necessary skills."

"The river had already withstood two previous dam threats," Shaw went on. "The forest was disappearing fast. It was like the Adirondacks in the 1870s. I knew another dam proposal would come along, and that someone had to tell the story of the river as clearly as possible before it was too late." That way a record would always exist that wove together fragmented strands of archaeology, anthropology, and conservation.

On his 1997 descent Shaw made it two thirds of the way before political instability and bandit activity forced him to quit.

"It was very disappointing, but reflected the reality of the place at the time. And I was writing about the place, not the adventure." The book is an adventure, nevertheless.

When it came out the Washington Post called it "brainy and brawny," and "a huge accomplishment." Bill McKibben said of the book, "You will be reminded of Jon Krakauer and Jonathan Raban, but Chris Shaw is a true original."

But he could never see the place without reference to his experience in the Adirondacks. "It formed all my perceptions of the Usumacinta basin. And the Adirondacks could serve as the best model to preserve it, as well." Last year Shaw co-founded, with videographer Dave Pentecost, the organization Rios Mayas to fight a new dam threat on the Usumacinta. In 2003 he returned to Chiapas and Mexico City to draw press attention to the problem, and to propose the Adirondacks as a model for a watershed protection plan spanning the Mexican-Guatemalan border. "You'd have to do it right, using both the positive and negative examples of the Adirondack experiment. It's a long-term project.

"The dam won't go away until the river is protected forever," he added. "I wish Victor could be here to see it happen." Perera died in 2003.

Today Shaw lives with his wife Sue Kavanagh in Middlebury, Vermont, where he teaches writing at Middlebury College. He still spends much of the year in his cabin near Saranac Lake, where he is currently writing a novel and editing manuscripts left behind at the death in 2000 of his friend, the guide and regional historian, Abel St. Martin.

Shaw will read from Sacred Money River at the Old Forge Library, on July 6, at 7:30.

Tabasco Hoy || Realizarán Segundo Festival Cultural del Usumacinta

Things are heating up in the delta of the Usumacinta - the Pantanos de Centla - as campesinos and fishermen block a road to prevent drilling by Pemex that may contaminate aquifers and ruin their livelihood.

PRD bloquea apertura de 100 pozos de Pemex | 2004-06-30 | La Crónica de Hoy

Proceso - Bloquean acceso a instalaciones de Pemex en Tabasco

The Institute of the Americas has made available all the presentations from the first annual Latin American Sustainable Development Conference that I attended 2 weeks ago.

Index of ftp://132.239.192.94/SusDev/2004 Conference/presentations

My presentation can be found here:

The Usumacinta Project (pdf)

A long overdue thanks to Tammy Ridenour, who outfitted our raft trip on the Usumacinta and cheerfully guided us through rapids, eddies, ruins, and waterfalls. She and her crew - Fred, Beto, Sidney - were great company and tireless in every situation.

Maya Expeditions - Guatemala

Thanks to Craig Johnson for these links. The first, a report from the WWF on the top 21 endangered rivers, all with more than 5 dams planned for them. The Usumacinta is not on the list, but the case is made again against dams.

Rivers at Risk - Dams and the future of freshwater ecosystems (pdf)

The second report is very timely, as we turn our focus on the economics and financing of dams.

DamRight! An Investor's guide to Dams (pdf)

(This report draws heavily from the World Commission on Dams Report of 2000, which I posted here.)

And here's the main page for WWF's dams initiative. Great information.

Dam Right! WWF's 2003-2004 Dams Initiative

Thanks to Alfonso Morales for this article. The failure of reforestation projects in Chiapas has led to the loss of topsoil and the silting up of hydroelectric dams. A similar fate awaits any dam built on the Usumacinta.

(this is a direct link, at least for now: Cuarto Poder )

CHIAPAS Reforestación, un tema olvidado.
Se azolva presa de paraestatal

Marco González CP. Ante el azolve de las
hidroeléctricas en Chiapas se reduce su vida útil. La
erosión provocada por las lluvias, arrastra hasta 90
toneladas de tierra por hectárea. Éste, es uno de los
daños de la deforestación. Aun así quienes utilizan
estos embalses, poco o nada hacen para evitar el daño.

A fin de mantener la utilidad de algunas de estas
presas, se ha incrementado el alto de sus cortinas,
señalan técnicos extranjeros consultados y que
solicitaron el anonimato. Sin embargo, para gente como
el doctor Vicente Martínez Vázquez, cuando mucho le
quedan 30 años de vida a algunas hidroeléctricas, por
la acelerada deforestación y el proceso de
desertización en la zona Frailesca de Chiapas.
Durante la Primer Conferencia Regional de Geografía de
Chiapas, en mayo de 1972, Conrado Zárate, auxiliar de
la Oficina Coordinadora de Obras y Proyectos
Hidroeléctricos de La Angostura de Comisión Federal de
Electricidad (CFE), se comprometió – a nombre de la
paraestatal - a reforestar las áreas circundantes al
embalse con programas frutícolas y silvícolas. Hasta
la fecha, todo quedó en promesa.

El programa frutícola que presentó el funcionario de
la CFE, era el siguiente: se sembrarían árboles de
tamarindo, guanábana, mango, aguacate, coso, tanto en
las parcelas de los ejidatarios como en las zonas
estratégicas a fin de combatir la erosión hídrica.
En cuanto al programa de reforestación, se dijo – en
aquel entonces – que se están utilizando cedros y
caobas. De haberse cumplido, ahora, serían enormes
plantaciones que generarían miles de millones de pesos
y empleos para la gente de la depresión central. Todo
quedó en el papel.
Dentro de algunos años, cuando quede azolvada
completamente la presa de La Angostura, esas 60 mil
hectáreas, se convertirá en el paraíso para los
cultivos de temporal, porque tendrá una capa de más de
150 metros de profundidad de un excelente humus y
humedad, ha señalado en diversos foros el doctor
Martínez Vázquez.
Nadie ha detenido la deforestación ni tampoco se han
hecho buenos esfuerzos para fomentar la reforestación
en la zona aledaña al embalse o en las partes altas de
la Sierra Madre de Chiapas, añade, el también premio
Chiapas.
En las últimas décadas se ha invertido más en papel de
los discursos para justificar los programas de
reforestación de la zona aledaña a la cuenca del Río
Grijalva, que en los árboles que se debieron de haber
sembrado, y que hoy estarían haciendo un valioso
aporte ecológico y económico para la gente de la
región, dijo.
Si bien los hubiera no existen, decía Martínez
Vázquez, la gente debe exigir que se cumplan los
compromisos.
Por falta de una adecuada política de reforestación,
las mejores tierras de Chiapas se encuentran en
Tabasco, señalaba el extinto doctor Miguel Álvarez del
Toro, premio Paul Gety (símil del Nobel en Ecología).
Cuando se azolve por completo el embalse de La
Angostura, la tierra de cultivo tendrá una profundidad
de más de 150 metros y no tarda, apunta el doctor
Martínez Vázquez.

An excellent and disturbing article in Progreso on the continued push for the Plan Puebla Panama. It highlights efforts to minimize opposition to the plan by civil society, using 3% of the budget to fund sustainable development initiatives.

Proceso.com.mx - Exclusiva:Plan Puebla Panamá: nuevos coqueteos

Y frente a las insistentes versiones de que hay proyectos ocultos en el PPP, como algunas hidroeléctricas en el área del Río Usumacinta, Rodas asegura que esos proyectos están desechados desde hace 20 años por sus costos ecológicos, su inviabilidad financiera y porque de realizarse inundarían grandes cantidades de terrenos, entre ellos, una proporción importante de Petén “Ese proyecto al que hacen referencia los ambientalistas está técnica y políticamente descartado. Los habitantes del Peten pueden estar tranquilos”, asegura Taylor.

Pero el debate de las hidroélectricas sigue ahí. Trópico Verde sostiene que desde que salieron a la luz las primeras voces críticas, han desaparecido gradualmente los proyectos más conflictivos, incluidos los de las presas hidroeléctricas en el Río Usumacinta, uno de los pilares del PPP, según documentos del gobierno mexicano.

“Es absurdo negar que el proyecto de una hidroeléctrica en Petén existe. Un frente de oposición formado por comunitarios que viven en las riveras del Usumacinta, con organizaciones locales, nacionales e internacionales ha ido ganando apoyo”, dice Carlos Albacete, quien llama a estas represas “los hijos no reconocidos del Plan Puebla Panamá”.

Here's a news story about efforts to protect the mouth of the Grijalva-Usumacinta river delta.

Proceso.com.mx - Exclusiva:Pemex, la depredación en Laguna de Términos

An archived version of the Tim Weiner New York Times article on the Baca del Cerro dam plan, September 22, 2002.

En;NYT.com,Mexico weighs electricity against history,Sep 23

Reports on trade, PPP, environment issues

Americas Program | Index | Issue: Trade, Environment, Integration & Development

Below Boca del Cerro, where the Usumacinta widens and meanders to the Gulf, there's a growing pollution problem. If a dam were to be built, and the natural flood pulse stopped, would the pollution buildup be even worse?

Diario Olmeca

Ron Canter has provided a preliminary report on the Usumacinta study we did at the end of March of this year. It is in Microsoft Word format.

Usumacinta Canyons and Rapids
Download file

This website, Sponsored by NASA, USAID, World Bank, and CCAD in El Salvador, will provide a variety of satellite images of the region. It already has some impressive views and fly-throughs.

SIAM-SERVIR The Central American Monitoring and Visualization System

I've just found an excellent collection of maps, online at the CIEPAC site.

CIEPAC, A.C. : Indice de Mapas de Chiapas

Chris Shaw sent this press release he had received. It's far from the Usu, but it's another sign that hydroelectric power is not without drawbacks as a "clean" energy source.

Bad news for Hydro-Quebec

New York no longer considers large hydropower a clean energy

The State of New York no longer considers large-scale hydroelectricity as a green and renewable energy and excludes it from its list of main tier eligible generation sources. This official recommendation was made public today by Administrative Law Judge Eleanor Stein, President of the Commission regarding a Retail Renewable Portfolio Standard of the New York State Public Service Commission. The consultation process spanned over 16 months and mobilized more than 150 private, public and individual organisations.

The State legislation requires that 17% of the public supply of energy come from
clean and renewable sources. Judge Stein's decision renders unacceptable new
hydropower plants with reservoirs and those producing more that 30 MW. Only
hydropower from small run-of-river power plants will be eligible. Fourteen American
States have adopted a similar legislation and their number is growing every year.

The State of New York wants to raise from 17 to 25% over ten years the proportion of
renewable energy bought from its suppliers. It also incites consumers to choose
green energies in order to fulfill their energy needs. On-going media campaigns
explain the advantages of consuming energy in an environment-friendly way. Quebec's
hydroelectricity no longer meets these standards.

Thus, as hydropower is phasing out on American markets, Hydro-Quebec gets a new and
strong incentive to end its devastating hydroelectric development in James Bay /
Northern Quebec and to turn towards acceptable energy sources, such as wind power.

Rupert Reverence, a group of Cree and Quebec citizens dedicated to the protection of
Northern Quebec rivers, took part in this commission by tabling, on September 26,
2004, a statement regarding the environmental, social and ethical impacts of large
hydroelectric projects in James Bay. Co-President Jacqueline Leroux is highly
pleased with Judge Stein's recommendation. "With this decision, New Yorkers show
their support for the protection of Northern Quebec rivers. Their environmental
conscience will help Quebec attain its Kyoto commitments through the abandonment of
polluting industries such as hydroelectricity and fossil fuel. Now that important
clients are in turn asking for it, maybe Hydro-Quebec will listen."

Rupert Reverence is a non-profit organization founded in October 2001 by Crees and
Quebecers involved in their environment and deeply convinced that there is much more
to lose than to gain by new hydroelectric development in the Eeyou Istchee / James
Bay / Nunavik territory. Well established in its information role, Rupert Reverence
supports the protection of virgin rivers of Northern Quebec, in the name of the
Nations present on the territory, in order to preserve wildlife habitats, ecosystems
balance, ancestral sites and ethnotouristic potential harboured by the great rivers
of Northern Quebec.

For information:

Jacqueline Leroux, Co-President (418) 748-7317 or Eric Gagnon (514) 708-5899

http://www.dps.state.ny.us/03e0188.htm et
www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/renewable_energy

http://www.dps.state.ny.us/rps/03e0188_030926_comments/Rupert_comments.pdf and
Google search: rps state

Eric Gagnon
Rupert Reverence

Southern Quebec
(514) 708-5899
Northern-Quebec (Head office)
(418) 748-7317
199 Laframboise
Chibougamau G8P 2S3

One Mexican energy secretary out, a new one in. No new push for private investment, in an Usumacinta dam and elsewhere?

Forbes.com: Mexico energy reform in limbo after resignation

HoustonChronicle.com - Fox's choice for energy post may lack clout for reforms

Manejo y conservacion de la Cuenca del rio Usumacinta

Back in civilization for a moment, after a week with archaeologist Charles Golden and his team in the Sierra del Lacandon, along the Usumacinta River. They are surveying new Maya sites along the frontier between the ancient cities of Yaxchilan and Piedras Negras.

Highlight of the week was a trek from the small site of Esmeralda to PN, 18 kilometers through a jaguar habitat (we saw tracks), led by guides who are ex-guerillas, now employed by Guatemala´s Sierra del Lacandon Park. At Piedras Negras we were welcomed by Stephen Houston and his crew, who have returned to the site after a couple of years´absence, to continue excavations. We spent the night at the El Porvenir guards´camp, which was a safe haven for our group of rafters last month, then hiked back the next day. Charles and his folks were to start a 3-day trek to the site of Tecolote, but I caught a boat upriver (not as young as those guys) and decide to continue back to Flores to rest and do some communications. I also caught a preview screening for Guatemalan folks of this week´s National Geographic Special on the Maya, which will air on PBS on the 12th.

I´m heading back in with the next group of park guards tomorrow, to see Tecolote and continue shooting a documentary on the river. Then I am on a homeward trajectory after a strenuous and satisfying journey.

Doctora Ileana Valenzuela, of ECAO in Flores, has been very helpful to me in the last few days. I received from her a very powerful and clear statement of the situation that Peteneros now face, in their efforts to protect the largest rainforest north of Brazil, and to improve the lives of all its inhabitants. The statement begins here and continues in its entirety. (Click MORE)

GRUPO SOLIDARIO DE ACCION Y PROPUESTA DE PETEN (GSAPP)
27 de marzo del año 2004

La situación se agrava en todas las regiones del departamento de Petén, Guatemala, por medio de la violencia, el ofrecimiento de empleos y dinero se
trata de dividir y confundir a la población ofreciéndole un tipo de "desarrollo" basado en la destrucción de los ecosistemas y en la degradación de las condiciones de existencia de la población.

Por lo que, en tanto que ONG, asociaciones de base y personas
preocupadas por la situación que está viviendo Petén,
situación que de una manera u otra están viviendo
todos los pueblos del mundo, hacemos conocer a la
opinión local, nacional e internacional lo que está
pasando en algunas regiones del departamento:

Ríos Usumacinta, Pasión y Salinas

Los planes de construcción de varias represas
hidroeléctricas en los Ríos Usumacinta, Pasión y
Salinas continúan amenazando a las comunidades
guatemaltecas y mexicanas que se encuentran en sus
orillas, sus tierras y sitios arqueológicos de gran
valor como Piedras Negras y Yaxchilán. Se quieren
construir las infraestructuras necesarias para que se
instalen en la región mesoamericana compañías
principalmente extranjeras. Expandir el comercio,
construir carreteras, vías férreas y aeropuertos que
conviertan a toda la región mesoamericana en un puente
de transporte de mercancías, fuente mano de obra y
recursos naturales baratos, en detrimento de la
población que verá sus aldeas inundadas, será
expulsada de sus tierras y verá sus condiciones de
vida fuertemente deterioradas. Todo esto es negado
por las autoridades gubernamentales quienes efectúan
sus planes a espaldas de la población a la que no
informan convenientemente ni consultan. Es por ello
que las comunidades amenazadas, organizadas en el
Frente Petenero contra las Represas, manifestaron el
día 15 de marzo de este año e hicieron paros en las
carreteras para expresar su descontento y oposición,
ejerciendo el derecho de todo ciudadano a decir ¡NO!
Durante esta manifestación pacifica los manifestantes
fueron atacados por gente en un pick up que paso
disparando e hiriendo a varias personas. Esto es
sumamente grave pues muestra que hay fuertes
intereses, tras la construcción de las represas (y
otra de serie de negocios e infraestructuras), que
están determinados a matar para alcanzar sus fines.
Así como el gran peligro de que en Guatemala se vean
reproducidas la represión y la militarización. Esto
muestra también que las recientes declaraciones de los
presidentes Fox y Berger, negando que las represas
vayan a ser construidas en el Usumacinta, son falsas
¿Por qué disparar sobre gente indefensa que está
protestando contra las represas si no hay intención de
construirlas?

Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre (PNLT)

El PNLT fue creado el 30 de enero 1990, mediante el
Decreto No. 5-90 del Congreso de la República, que a
su vez creo la RBM y comprende el Biotopo Protegido
Laguna del Tigre bajo administración del Centro
Conservacionista de la Universidad de San Carlos
CECON. Tiene en total una extensión de 338,566.2 Ha.,
está bajo la administración del Consejo de Áreas
protegidas CONAP y aunque se ha ensayado alguna figura
de co-manejo esta no ha dado resultado. Es el humedal
más grande de Centro América, reconocido por Ramsar
debido a su rica biodiversidad y a su importancia en
el equilibrio del ciclo del agua en toda Guatemala. A
pesar de su importancia en tanto que área protegida
los diferentes gobiernos han autorizado en el parque
la explotación de petróleo y la red de carreteras
necesarias para su funcionamiento, lo que ha permitido
que miles de personas se introdujeran en el parque en
búsqueda de tierra. De manera que a inicios de 1998
se reportaban en el parque 13 comunidades con 3,250
habitantes y para el año 2001 ya se contaban 24
comunidades con aproximadamente 6,138 habitantes.
Desde hace algunos años la situación se ha agravado
enormemente pues los invasores que están llegando no
son más pequeños campesinos aislados, sino grandes y
ricos ganaderos quienes se apropian de un golpe entre
50 y 100 caballerías cada uno. Utilizan a miles de
campesinos para descombrar parcelas en la selva a
quienes se les autoriza sembrar durante un año, con
la condición de que después metan pastos y continúen
descombrando hasta dejarles toda la finca convertida
en potreros. Están entrando camionadas enteras de
gente que llegan a convertir en pastos y fincas
ganaderas lo poco de bosque que queda, terminando con
múltiples especies de fauna y la flora, muchas de las
cuales son endémicas, e incrementando el tráfico
ilegal. Los hombres llegan fuertemente armados a
invadir el PNLT, amenazando a todos los que se les
opongan. El año pasado provocaron innumerables
incendios con el fin de convertir el bosque en pastos
y se ha verificado muy recientemente la existencia de
avionetas abandonadas en la selva, e incluso hundidas
en los ríos, que evidentemente han servido a los
narcotraficantes. La explotación petrolera se está
expandiendo a nuevas áreas y un mínimo de 10 carros
diarios pasan transportando ilegales y todo tipo de
riqueza de la selva, mientras que salen de la reserva
camiones cargados de madera cortada en forma ilegal.
Los cambios políticos en el gobierno han favorecido
esta situación pues las nuevas autoridades continúan a
ignorar completamente lo que está pasando en toda
impunidad y completamente en contra a todo lo
establecido en la ley de Áreas Protegidas del país.
Esto deja pensar que dichas autoridades pudieran tener
un interés particular en que la reserva desaparezca y
se privatice para convertirla en plantaciones,
empresas ganaderas, agroindustriales, etc. Los grandes
invasores son personas con gran poder político y
militar (se habla de personas que han ayudado a
financiar la campaña electoral). Esto es inadmisible
pues, es el poco patrimonio natural que nos queda a
los guatemaltecos el que se está sacrificando en pro
de intereses monetarios y políticos por lo que es
necesario que se ejerza todo el peso de la ley contra
estos grandes infractores, se rezonifique el parque
(determinando áreas para los campesinos que no tienen
más de una hectárea y la cultivan ellos mismos),
estableciendo un plan de regeneración y conservación
del parque y redefiniendo un plan de manejo basado en
el desarrollo sostenible integral. Esto tiene que
complementarse con una reforma agraria y una
estrategia de seguridad alimentaría, creación de
empleos y regeneración ambiental a nivel de toda
Guatemala. Es necesario que el Estado priorice la
agenda ambiental y asegure el cumplimiento de la ley,
comenzando por sacar a esos grandes ganaderos que de
forma completamente abusiva están apropiándose del
patrimonio nacional.

Reserva de la Biosfera Maya y ampliación del parque
Mirador

La parte sur de la Cuenca Mirador se encuentra dentro
de la Zona de Usos Múltiples de la RBM. Las
comunidades que rodean el área, entre ellas la
Cooperativa de Carmelita, han adquirido los derechos
para aprovechar los recursos maderables y no
maderables a través de concesiones forestales
otorgadas por el Consejo Nacional de Áreas protegidas
(CONAP). Estas unidades de manejo fueron creadas para
impulsar el aprovechamiento sostenible de los
recursos, bajo condiciones y lineamientos del CONAP.
Los productos que se aprovechan son: madera, xate y
chicle y en los contratos se encuentra especificada la
promoción del ecoturismo como una alternativa
económica sostenible. Los contratos suscritos entre
los concesionarios y el CONAP amparan los sitios
arqueológicos según la ley, los concesionarios deben
presentar un plan de manejo que debe reportar los
sitios arqueológicos que se localicen en el área a
aprovechar y es prohibido llevar a cabo cualquier
actividad que pueda dañar los montículos. Desde 1988
hasta la fecha el Proyecto PRIANPEG dirigido por el
Dr. Richard Hansen han llevado a cabo investigaciones
arqueológicas dentro de la Cuenca Mirador. Se ha
descubierto que la antigüedad de estos sitios mayas es
excepcional pues datan de 1000 años antes de Cristo.
Las pirámides que se encuentran en el área están entre
los edificios más grandes y antiguos construidos en
Mesoamerica y se piensa que el Mirador pudo haber sido
la cuna de los antiguos mayas. El manejo de la
actividad turística del área está a cargo de el Comité
de Turismo de la Cooperativa de Carmelita que desde
hace varios años coordina los viajes a pie y a caballo
hasta el Mirador, lo que implica un ingreso importante
para la comunidad y una fuente de empleo para varios
comunitarios (alquiler de mulas y caballos, guias,
cocineras, etc.). Es un turismo incipiente que debería
contar con un fuerte apoyo de las autoridades de la
cooperativa para llegar a constituir una alternativa
económica importante, pero por el momento no está
recibiendo el apoyo necesario. Por otra parte, el
proyecto de ampliación de la Cuenca del Mirador
propuesto por el Dr. Richard Hansen, por el contrario,
se propone vender el Mirador como un gran producto
turístico y construir las infraestructuras par acoger
adecuadamente a un turismo masivo que llegue por
avión o helicóptero de Cancún, pase una noche en el
hotel, visite el sitio y se regrese, aumentando el
flujo de visitantes hasta llegar a más de 100,000 por
año, reproduciendo el mismo tipo de turismo elitista y
destructor que existe actualmente en Petén y beneficia
principalmente a algunas compañías extranjeras y
nacionales, sin dejar gran cosa a las comunidades
locales. El presidente Berger ha llegado a visitar el
sitio y parece que está muy de acuerdo con la
construcción de un aeropuerto y la puesta en marcha
del proyecto. A esto se opone parte de la población de
Carmelita que se da cuenta de las graves implicaciones
ecológicas y sociales que tendría este proyecto pero,
a parte de ofrecer dinero a algunos comunitarios para
que lo apoyen (Q10,000.00), Richard Hansen está
promoviendo un nuevo comité de turismo entre los
comunitarios con el fin de causar división y poder
continuar con su proyecto.

Uaxactún

Durante casi 100 años, la comunidad de Uaxactún ha
vivido conservando y manejando los recursos forestales
no maderables. A partir de 1999, el gobierno les
otorgo una concesión forestal por 25 años para el
manejo integrado y sostenido de los recursos
forestales, tanto maderables como no maderables, lo
que la comunidad ha tratado de hacer sin olvidar su
espíritu conservacionista y desarrollando una pequeña
actividad de ecoturismo. A partir de diciembre del
2000 en adelante, la comunidad se ha visto amenazada
por las pretensiones del Proyecto turístico Mundo Maya
que pretende desarrollar un turismo de elite, para
turistas con dinero, en el cual los beneficios
económicos sería monopolizados por grandes empresarios
turísticos, dejando de lado los intereses de la
comunidad. Esto implicaría desposeer de sus derechos
legales a los comunitarios otorgando a los empresarios
los sitios arqueológicos mas relevantes, que
actualmente son utilizados por la comunidad, pues
pertenecen a la concesión forestal de Uaxactún.
Implicaría también la apertura de carreteras al
interior de las áreas protegidas, la invasión de la
selva y su conversión en pastos, como ha pasado en
otras partes del departamento. Los comunitarios han
trabajado para informar y hacer conciencia a la
población de la gran amenaza que esto significa pero
hay intereses lesivos de otras organizaciones que
pretenden dividir a la comunidad en vez de
fortalecerla, mientras que representantes del Mundo
Maya han llegado a introducir falsas expectativas con
respecto al proyecto turístico, lo que está dañando al
proceso organizativo y dividiendo a los comunitarios
de Uaxactún.

La Libertad

Se ha hablado de que ha aparecido en el departamento y
particularmente en la Libertad, la venta y utilización
de semillas transgenicas, lo que hará que la
producción agrícola y la alimentación queden en manos
de las transnacionales que las monopolizan,
desapareciendo paulatinamente la Soberanía Alimentaría
tanto del departamento de Petén
como de Guatemala y de cada país que las utiliza.
Además del daño a la salud humana y a los ecosistemas
que tales semillas son susceptibles de causar, esto va
acorde con el modelo socio-económico que quiere
imponer el Plan Puebla Panamá, según el cual los
pequeños campesinos ineficientes, sin dinero ni
tecnología y poco rentables son substituidos por
grandes empresarios agrícolas eficaces, con dinero y
tecnología moderna, competitivos y rentables.

Por todo lo cual declaramos:

1.- Ante esta situación escandalosa, el nuevo gobierno
no está haciendo aparentemente nada, su función no es
la de atacarse a los problemas más profundos del país
y de la población sino promover como fines esenciales
la expansión del comercio, la inversión extranjera, la
construcción de megaproyectos y la acumulación de
capitales, en el marco del PPP y del TLC. La
reconversión de Petén es un gran negocio al que
evidentemente no puede dejar de participar, ya que,
esto implica la implantación de proyectos millonarios
sumamente atractivos para las transnacionales, los
grandes empresarios y las autoridades que se van a
beneficiar.

2.- Dicha reconversión constituye una nueva
colonización y un robo más intensivo de nuestros
recursos e implica la desaparición de Petén en tanto
que territorio cubierto por bosques y su conversión en
un desierto. Además, no solamente amenaza con acabar
con la Reserva de Biosfera Maya (RBM) y con los
recursos naturales necesarios a nuestra sobre vivencia
sino que amenaza con desposeer a los actuales
habitantes del Petén de sus tierras y reducirlos en el
mejor de los casos a vivir en hacinamientos urbanos
insalubres y a trabajar en las condiciones
inadmisibles en la que se encuentran los obreros de
las fabricas maquiladoras, agravando la explotación de
la mano de obra barata en el departamento, así como
las condiciones de pobreza, marginación y dependencia
en las que se encuentra la población.

3.- Es por ello que es necesario que la población
guatemalteca, con el apoyo de los amigos de todos los
países del mundo, se informe, se una y se organice
para tomar espacios de poder cada vez más grandes y
ejerza una presión cada vez mayor sobre la toma de
decisiones de las diferentes autoridades, para
defender su patrimonio tanto natural como cultural, su
dignidad y su identidad de seres humanos
multidimensionales. Se trata de una relación de
fuerzas, las autoridades no tomarán en cuenta las
reivindicaciones de la población que en la medida en
la que está constituya un poder (o múltiples poderes)
conciente de sus objetivos y de la sociedad en la que
quiere vivir.

4.- Nos oponemos y decimos no al Plan Puebla Panamá,
No al Tratado de Libre Comercio de Centro América con
los Estados Unidos, No al ALCA, No a los proyectos del
BID y del BM, que no corresponden a los intereses ni a
las expectativas de la mayoría de la población. No a
la construcción de represas, carreteras e
infraestructuras que destruyan y degraden nuestros
bosques y ecosistemas. No a las invasiones en Áreas
Protegidas. No a proyectos turísticos en los que las
comunidades no tengan el control. No a entregar
nuestros recursos naturales a unas cuantas compañías,
convirtiendo a Petén en un desierto. No a la
impunidad. No ha seguir consumiendo en función de los
intereses de las trasnacionales productos chatarra y
transgenicos que son lesivos a nuestra salud y
degradan el ambiente. No a la desaparición de los
campesinos y del maíz guatemaltecos. Decimos, No a la
guerra y a la violencia con las que se trata de
mantener el poder de los más fuertes aquí y en todas
partes del mundo y condenamos enérgicamente el ataque
armado contra los comunitarios que manifestaban
pacíficamente su oposición a la construcción de
represas en el Usumacinta el 15 de marzo de este año.
Así como condenamos todo tipo de violencia dirigido
contra los niños, las mujeres y los más débiles. No al
desposeimiento de los pueblos de sus tierras, de sus
aguas y de sus bosques. No a la monopolización del
poder, de los recursos y de la tecnología. No al
hambre y a la miseria.

5.- Nos solidarizamos con todos los pueblos que están
luchando por sus derechos legítimos, contra la
ofensiva del neoliberalismo, por el acceso y control
de sus recursos y por la construcción de una nueva
sociedad, justa, equitativa y solidaria en la que
exista una verdadera participación de las poblaciones
a la toma de decisiones y a la construcción de su
propio futuro. Llamamos a un fuerte paciente y
dedicado esfuerzo por informar y hacer conciencia a la
gran parte de la población que en Petén, Guatemala y
el Mundo vive ignorante e indiferente de los peligros
que la amenazan, con el fin de que se constituyan en
sujetos políticos activos capaces de hacer valer sus
derechos. Llamamos a seguir trabajando por articular
un amplio conjunto de fuerzas que conforme un
movimiento universal para impedir planes como el PPP,
los tratados de libre comercio, la militarización, la
guerra y la violencia. Llamamos a todas las personas
concientes a informarse, unirse y organizarse en
organizaciones, como la Alianza por la Vida y la Paz,
el Frente Petenero contra las represas y el Grupo
Solidario de Acción y Propuesta de Petén, que se
oponen en todo el mundo a la ofensiva del capitalismo
y trabajan en la identificación y definición de nuevas
alternativas. Necesitamos el apoyo de todos y cada uno
de ustedes para poner en marcha múltiples e
innumerables formas creativas de oposición,
resistencia y propuesta de alternativas.

6.- Es necesario apoyar las alternativas y los
movimientos alternativos que surgen por todas partes
en el mundo y comenzar a consolidar, en forma
imaginativa estrategias integrales de construcción del
futuro, basadas en el acceso de la población local a
sus tierras, aguas y bosques, en formas de producción
y consumo sostenibles, en el respeto a la diversidad
de culturas y en la reasignación de las personas, de
los recursos y de la tecnología, que actualmente se
dedican a la guerra, a megaproyectos destructivos y a
proyectos nocivos para dedicarlos a proyectos
definidos e implementados por la población ella misma
y dirigidos hacia la solución de los graves problemas
de hambre, desempleo y pobreza que existen en el
mundo.

7.- Llamamos a apoyar todo tipo de acciones de
resistencia conjunta, a la construcción de nuevas
actitudes y comportamientos solidarios, a la conquista
de espacios de poder, respeto, dignidad y democracia
cada vez mayores.

Informémonos, Unámonos, Organicémonos,
Dejemos de lado al divisionismo y la ignorancia
Acabemos con la destrucción y la violencia.

Otro mundo es posible pero, nosotros tenemos que
construirlo.

Roan McNab, in Flores, Guatemala, has been trying to get government attention turned towards the continued destruction of the Laguna del Tigre Park. He seems to be succeeding. In last Sunday´s Prensa Libre, the story made the front page. It includes an aerial photo from one of Roan's flyovers.

Prensa Libre - Destrucción en Laguna del Tigre - Impunidad: Parque Nacional, sin control en Petén

Ten great days on the Usumacinta, studying the ancient mooring stones of the Maya. Wonderful, in spite of getting robbed in the middle of the night by gun and machete toting bandits. We camped on a beach that was fine last year, not this year. There is apparently an organized group that preys on the illegal immigrants passing through, fires shots at passing authorities and is now targeting tourists.

Note to future rafters and travelers - stay off of the beach on the Mexican side at a spot known as Anaite, just below the "Tower" guard post on the Guatemalan shore, a few hours below Yaxchilan. The beach is on a sharp right turn in the river, above Chicozapote rapids.

Beyond that we had no problems, no one was hurt, and we counted our blessings. We also got to know the Sierra del Lacandon guards and staff (the Defensores) and have nothing but praise for them and gratitude for their help. Many thanks to Rudi Del Cid, who supervises the Porvenir station below Piedras Negras, and to Javier Marquez, director of the park.

Best and safest current Usu trip - ask Willy Fonseca, at km 61 on the highway to Frontera Corozal, to take you to Piedras Negras and Busilha Falls by lancha. He puts in far below our trouble spot, and both sites are spectacular.

The Usu lives - still a frontier, still a cultural and natural treasure, still wild on many fronts. We will continue to work to preserve it.

From the recent meeting between Mexican President Fox and Guatemalan President Berger, a denial that there are any plans (at the moment) to build hydroelectric generating plants on the Usumacinta:

“No hay tal proyecto configurado dentro de los planes de mi gobierno. No hay ninguna acción que se esté tomando ahorita en este momento, y el día que fuera a existir algún proyecto de ese tipo, lo primero que haríamos es comentarlo con las comunidades, con los ecologistas y con todas las personas interesadas, pero por el momento, no hay ningún proyecto abarque esta generación de energía eléctrica en el Río Usumacinta, así que, para nosotros esta visita es fundamental, es muy importante”.

In Prensa Libre (Guatemala), an editorial on three themes that Mexican President Fox and Guatemalan President Berger will consider in their upcoming meeting. The third is the hydroelectric plan for the Usumacinta. The writer finds it unjustifiable and calls for the leaders to clarify their intentions.

Prensa Libre - EDITORIAL Los tres temas entre México y Guatemala

Eugenio Laris Alanis of the CFE presented this description of the future growth of the Mexican electrical system at the IDB in February. No mention of Boca del Cerro construction or bidding.

Recent Developments and Business Opportunities - Mexican Electrical Sector

From Prensa Libre. A number of Guatemalan environmentalists are quoted.

Noticias - Represas en la mira de ambientalistas

Hate to post this, but it's news. It happened at a town demonstration, in a driveby shooting, not on the river. No one killed.

Prensa Libre - Disparan a dos manifestantes - Ambientalistas celebraban Día contra las represas

IndyMedia has more details:

2 personas heridas en el Peten guatemalteco durante las movilizaciones realizadas en el contexto del dia internacional contra las represas.

Sixty people opposed to the dams met on March 14, International Day for Rivers and against Dams, in Libertad de los Flores, Petén, Guatemala.

They discussed the creation of community media centers to oppose the Plan Puebla Panama, and issued this statement:

COMUNICADORES POPULARES DE MESOAMERICA SE SUMAN A LA LUCHA DE RESISTENCIA CONTRA EL PLAN PUEBLA PANAMÁ

As I look forward to my river trip with Ron Canter in 2 weeks, I realize that I've never posted a link to other work he has done in the Maya region. He's too modest to suggest it, so I've only now stumbled across this page on his previous studies of Maya navigation.

Canoeing Maya Waterways with Native Trails

From La Prensa, Panama:

Actualícese con La Prensa Web - México no construirá más presas en Chiapas

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, México (EFE). —El Gobierno mexicano informó de que no hay planes para construir ninguna presa hidroeléctrica en el estado de Chiapas, sureste del país, en ocho años, informó el obispo de San Cristóbal, Felipe Arizmendi.

El religioso indicó que recibió una carta del director de la empresa estatal Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Alfredo Elías Ayub, en la que le asegura que "no se va a construir ninguna presa en el estado de Chiapas" entre el 2003 y 2012.

"Después de revisar nuestros programas, hemos constatado que ni el proyecto de almacenamiento del río Usumacinta ni el de Itsantún están incluidos en el Programa de Obras e Inversiones del Sector Eléctrico", responde al obispo el director de la CFE en un oficio.

El prelado dijo que es muy importante que el pueblo chiapaneco sepa que hay una declaración oficial de la CFE respecto a las inquietudes de posibles construcciones de nuevas presas hidroeléctricas en el estado, como se había denunciado.

BUT we have recently heard a different account of CFE's plans. We are awaiting a confirmation.

I missed this, getting ready to leave. From the New York Times:

Are All These Dams Really Necessary?

Next post from Guatemala. Nos Vemos!

Mexico and Honduras have signed a pact to exchange technical information, as a step toward the goals of Plan Puebla Panama - a unified electrical grid between Mexico and Central America.

OEM en Línea - CFE y Honduras firman convenio

A note for Ron Canter - we need this for the Usumacinta. Topography, cultural info, hydrology. 3 layers on one map.

: : Urban Mapping LLC : :

Some background on what we are up against, and who our allies might be. Fox's environmental reorganization in September 2003.

Politicos Replace Technocrats in Mexico Shakeup

I don't think I'm really in the market anymore (though I'd love to have something you could put through as baggage), but this is a good survey of what's out there for river trips. I'm not as brave or skilled as Ron with his folding canoe.

Paddler Magazine Online : Pushing Rubber on the Green

The heroic work of Marie-Claire Paiz has resulted in an agreement by USAID to directly support the protection of the Sierra del Lacandon, in partnership with the Defensores. Javier Marquez has recently become director, and Marie-Claire has taken on new responsibilities with the Nature Conservancy in Mexico.

Prensa Libre - Protegen Sierra del Lacandón
USAID y la Fundación Defensores de la Naturaleza firmaron convenio

For those unfamiliar with the struggle to protect the Maya Biosphere, here's a good overview:

Prized Maya Biosphere is Under Attack

Conference at the Interamerican Development Bank, Washington, D.C.
Free. Register before Feb. 6.

La inversión en infraestructura en América Latina y el Caribe
Perspectivas y problemas de segunda generación
19 y 20 de febrero de 2004

PDF Documents in support of the conference:

Documentos de apoyo

According to this report, the leaders of Mexico and Guatemala will meet on March 23. They will discuss, among other things, immigration along their border, and the development of hydroelectric plants on the Usumacinta.

El Economista - Fox y Berger analizarán migración ilegal

UPDATE: This story has disappeared from the Mural website. It can be found for now in the Google cache:

mural.com --- Pacta Fox visita oficial a Guatemala

The text is also posted below (click MORE)

Pacta Fox visita oficial a Guatemala

El trasiego de ilegales, la inseguridad fronteriza y el desarrollo de empresas hidroeléctricas
Grupo Reforma/AFP

Guatemala, Guatemala (28 enero 2004).- El Presidente de México, Vicente Fox, realizará una visita oficial a Guatemala el próximo 23 de marzo para tratar temas bilaterales, entre estos el tema de la migración ilegal, informó este miércoles una fuente oficial.

El canciller guatemalteco, Jorge Briz, dijo que durante la visita a Guatemala, Fox y Berger también analizarán el desarrollo de proyecto conjuntos en materia de generación de energía.

De acuerdo con Briz, los mandatarios analizarán el trasiego de ilegales, la inseguridad fronteriza y el desarrollo de empresas hidroeléctricas sobre el río Usumacinta, que sirve de límite a una parte de los 967 kilómetros de frontera que comparten ambos países.

De acuerdo con datos oficiales, a lo largo de la zona fronteriza conviven más de un millón de mexicanos y medio millón de guatemaltecos, quienes tejen a diario lazos de comercio, cultura y amistad.

Pese a los intercambios sociales cotidianos, la línea divisoria enfrenta desafíos y riesgos como el crimen transnacional organizado que aprovecha la alta porosidad en esa zona para el tráfico de drogas, el contrabando, el tráfico ilegal de personas, la depredación arqueológica y ambiental.

The most recent public statements by the CFE about plans for Boca del Cerro dam emphasize that the water levels will never rise above the normal high water mark. That is supposed to calm fears of widespread flooding and loss of land. But this unnatural constant high level has its own consequences.

The following article mentions the work of Peter Bayley, who is just finishing a term as visiting Fulbright Scholar in Villahermosa, Mexico. I am looking forward to his findings regarding the centlas of the Usumacinta.

World Conservation 2/99 - Barriers to Diversity (pdf)

Nothing alters a river as much as a dam, and nothing is more destructive of riverine and riparian species.

...What ecologist Peter Bayley terms the "flood pulse advantage" is the main reason for the astonishing diversity and productivity of rivers and floodplains...Annual floods on tropical rivers are estimated to produce fish yields a hundred times that of rivers without floodplains.

...Dams are therefore the main reason why fully one-fifth of the world's 9000 recognized freshwater fish species have become extinct, threatened or endangered in recent years. The percentage rises in countries which have been most heavily dammed.

More on the "flood pulse" can be found in these studies:

Sustaining Freshwater Ecosystems

The Flood Pulse Concept in Wetland Restoration (pdf)

Mekong River Commission - Floods are vital for fisheries - Catch and Culture

The flood pulse also affects plant and tree growth:

International Conference "Tree Rings and People"

And here is an abstract of the paper in which Peter Bailey and others first defined the flood pulse concept:

The flood pulse concept in river-floodplain systems - Abstract (pdf)"

There's a concern that believing the current CFE statements (that they only plan low structures that won't change the river) will allow them time to regroup and begin building large dams instead. Even if they build only low structures, there may be unintended damage to habitat and archaeological evidence.

Chris Shaw presents these concerns in terms that are very similar to those on the TropicoVerde website, quoted below.

Chis Shaw:

CFE's current claims that no large storage dam is planned, ... would eliminate, at least in their minds, the archaeology and terrestrial flooding arguments, as well as some of the hurricane and earthquake concerns. They can also say they have kept their promise to increase energy generation.

Four or five low-heads, however, would destroy a one-of-a-kind aquatic ecosystem about whch almost nothing is known, and probably wipe out other undescribed aquatic species (to say nothing of affecting the centlas). They would probably also destroy a certain number of river's edge archaeological structures, as well as navigation for local travel and toursism. And in any case, where are the environmental impact reports? What about the impact of new roads, for instance?

We need to make a statement that low-heads in the main corridor don't get them off the hook, and that last year we rejected any bank-to bank structures. We need to assert that archaeology and patrimony are about more than "treasure," i.e, tombs etc, and as much involved with preserving the ancient landscape, which records the old culture in its whole cloth.

TropicoVerde:

Tropicoverde pagina 4 del boletin

El gobierno de México ha cambiado en repetidas ocasiones la altura de la represa de Boca del Cerro. Documentos recientes de la CFE afirma que “cambió la concepción de los esquemas de sus proyectos hidroeléctricos a presas de baja altura, procurando así proyectos ambientalmente sustentables, que no afecten el patrimonio cultural del país, ni inunden grandes extensiones de terreno” (CFE,2003a).

Además plantea que el proyecto Boca del Cerro tendrá una altura de 48.5 m (originalmente era 135 m) y con este cambio afirman que: “no involucra territorio de la Republica de Guatemala, no inunda la Selva Lacandona, no impide el paso de nutrientes y organismos acuáticos hacia los pantanos de Centla, debido a que al operar al “hilo de corriente” se garantiza el escurrimiento natural del río, tal y como se ha presentado históricamente”(CFE,2003b).

Sin embargo, la realidad de otros proyectos de represas demuestra que siempre hay grandes impactos ambientales, como el impedimento de la migración de las especies que viven en el río y la alteración de las condiciones físicas, químicas y biológicas de las cuencas. Entre los impactos sociales cabe mencionar daños a sitios arqueológicos, desplazamiento de la población e impedimento a la libre navegación del río. Es importante resaltar que aún cuando se cambie la altura de Boca del Cerro el proyecto global es muy cuestionable.

Here is the website for International Shared Aquifer Resource Management (ISARM), and initiative of UNESCO and the International Association of Hydrogeologists. At the bottom of the page is a link to a pdf, a report on ISARM Americas, that mentions the Usumacinta.

Managing International Aquifers

I don't get many comments in this weblog, but some recent ones have started an interesting debate over the effect of a dam at Boca del Cerro on communities nearby. A town leader at Chinikiha (which is now called Reforma Agraria) has written in twice, once in response to a comment defending the dam, to outline the danger of such a dam to his community.

Here are the original posts with the news articles that prompted the debate:
The Daily Glyph: Proceso reports letter, Chinikiha
The Daily Glyph: News on Boca del Cerro Dam

And the three comments:

Me interesa el documental que tienen redactado, y el gran interes que se le ha dado a esta zona , pese a que ya desde hace muchos años la dependencia de INAH jamas se ha preocupado por restaurar ni mucho menos.
Mi nombre es Guiilermo Castañeda ...y soy el actual COMISAIADO EJIDAL de este ejido que actualmente se le conoce como REFORMA AGRARIA, un saludo y si en algo nos pudieran ayudar para sobresalir en este potencial turistico que tenemos apagado en nuestra zona desde hace muchos años......se los agradeceremos

sinceramente.....guillermo

Lei el articulo y la verdad no entiendo su punto de discusion, Primero :dicen que los proyectos hidrologicos sobre el Usumacinta inundaran gran cantidad de terrenos y sitios aequeologicos ,sin embargo ese problema se soluciona bajando la altura de la presa,, y cambiando el tipo de turbinas( con lo que se aseguraria que el lago artificial de las presas no sobrepasara el nivel inundado naturalmente por el usumacinta en epoca de lluvias),,,Segundo: en esa zona los pueblos malviven de la agricultura (el maiz cuesta 500 la tonelada, cuesta producirlo 3000) y con la implementacion de los embalses como zona piscicola sin duda mejorarian su nivel de vida,,,
tercero: el proyecto boca del cerro no es nuevo ni exclusivo del PPP,,,es un proyecto que data de los años 70´s y esta contemplado en el original Plan nacional de desarrollo...
cuarto: les doy la razon en el sentido de que los pobladores deben de ser consultados pues son sus tierras en donde viven, pero las presas son vitales precisamente para evitar que mediante plantas termoelectricas (queman combustible fosil(chapopote o carbon mineral y/o vegetal))el medio ambiente se siga contaminando,,,si se ponen a pensar un poco o se molestan en profundizar en lo que es un proyecto hidraulico, se darian cuenta que es la unica manera ademas de los campos de generacion eolica y por mareas de no contaminar ni destruir nuestras reservas petroleras que tan necesarias son para el desarrollo de mexico....

atte

Ing. Juan francisco de León Ibarra; UNAM(CU )

Si los comentarios que menciona el ing. de la unam tuviesen gran impacto dentro de mis paisanos les aseguro que dijeran que esta loco con respecto a su mencionado proyecto de crianza de peces ( piscicultura ) ....ya que no tiene ni idea de lo que representa el romper una cultura como la nuestra ...si cosechar 1000 kg. de maiz nos representa mas de lo que vale en el mercado...eso para nosotros nos tiene sin cuidado ya que comer lo que nosotros mismos producimos es una tradicion y es un honor para nuestro pueblo
impidan por favor esas construcciones hidrologicas ya que por otra parte enterrarian bajo no se cuantos metros del agua, a nuestros ancestros....los mayas.....
mi pueblo y yo defenderemos nuestra zona arqueologica a capa y espada
guillermo castañeda
comisariado ejidal
CHINIKIHA....CHIAPAS saludos...

Links to projects inviting outside investment, location of plants, successful bidders.

CFE - Investors

A search on the site for "Boca del Cerro" brings this up:

Search results under: Boca del Cerro string
1 articles were found
Press room
1.- January 28, 2003
NO PROJECT IS UNDER WAY TO BUILD A MAJOR STORAGE DAM AT USUMACINTA RIVER

And the January 28 date links to a story from Feb. 6 about Nicaragua, no mention of Boca del Cerro.

But a little digging finds something that's not news, but the official line we've heard before, in as few words as possible:

Mexico City, Federal District, January 28, 2003
PRESS RELEASE

NO PROJECT IS UNDER WAY TO BUILD A MAJOR STORAGE DAM AT USUMACINTA RIVER

* CFE cancelled a project with those characteristics several years ago

The Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) does not have plans for any project to build a major storage dam at the Usumacinta river, in the region known as Boca del Cerro, and it has been several years since a project with those characteristics was cancelled.

The company’s technical staff is studying in this region the probable usage of the river’s flow to generate hydropower, having as a restriction the utilization of the river in its natural flow.

The progress of the studies will be discussed at all times with the relevant authorities.

Not Boca del Cerro, but La Parota and El Cajon.

Business News Americas - CFE could invite bids on US$1.7bn hydro projects in 2004 - Mexico

How do we make the case to CFE that it is in their interest to preserve the Usumacinta?

Earthwatch has a number of publications on business and biodiversity:

Publications of Earthwatch Europe

CFE is proud that many of their plants conform to an international standard - ISO 14001 - of environmental responsibility:

El Universal Online 1-5-2004 Cumple CFE con normas ambientales

But what is ISO-14001?

EPA - Environmental Management Systems/ISO 14001 - Frequently Asked Questions

Greener Management International - Issue 28 - Special Issue on ISO 14001: Case Studies and Practical Experiences (Abstracts)

Wiley - Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management

What is greener management, environmental management? Does this guy know?

RGU: Staff: Business Management - Peter Strachan

How about the World Commission on Dams?

WCD and ISO - Ripple Effects: WCD & ISO
Common Ground for Dams? DAMS Newsletter 7, August 2000

WCD - Dams and Development: An Overview

1. Dams have made an important and significant contribution to human development, and the benefits derived from them have been considerable
2. In too many cases an unacceptable and often unnecessary price has been paid to secure those benefits, especially in social and environmental terms, by people displaced, by communities downstream, by taxpayers and by the natural environment.
3. Lack of equity in the distribution of benefits has called into question the value of many dams in meeting water and energy development needs when compared with the alternatives
4. By bringing to the table all those whose rights are involved and who bear the risks associated with different options for water and energy resources development, the conditions for a positive resolution of competing interests and conflicts are created
5. Negotiating outcomes will greatly improve the development effectiveness of water and energy projects by eliminating unfavourable projects at an early stage, and by offering as a choice only those options that key stakeholders agree represent the best ones to meet the needs in question

Navigation Surveys, Salvage Archaeology, and the Nile

While in Florida, I read Rex Keating's "Nubian Rescue", which is not an episode from the Arabian Nights. It summarized the Nubian Campaign, a portion of UNESCO's massive salvage operation racing against the filling of Lake Nasser behind Aswan High Dam on the Nile. Though it was an enormous, well-funded international effort that relocated Abu Simel and put ancient Meroe on the map, it could not save some great sites.

For me, it was a really sobering look at what could be in store for the Usumacinta and what might have to be done. Chris [Shaw's] reports from Rosa Bacelis about goings on at Boca' sound ominous. I'm going to just crib from the book, with an occasional aside. The quotes speak for themselves.

(Text continues)

UNESCO drew up a list of the principal threats to world cultural property. "First among them, and the most spectacular, is dam construction. In America, the Missouri River drainage plan has submerged all the known sites of five major prehistoric cultures." Subsidiary works, such as access roads, worker camps, and quarries for rock fill can be equally destructive [paraphrased].

From Dr. Vittorino Veronese's UNESCO appeal on 3-8-1960: "It is not easy to choose between temples and crops. I would be sorry for any man called on to make that choice who could not do so without a feeling of despair. These monuments do not belong solely to the countries who hold them in trust. Treasures of universal value are entitled to universal protection."

The Nubian campaign focused on a 100 mile stretch between Faras and the Dal Cataract. They fielded thirty expeditions from 24 countries from 1663 to 1971. "The Second Cataract, of all the many reaches of the Nile in its four thousand mile journey from source to sea, was by far the most beautiful. Rapids and islands followed in bewildering variety until at Semna, forty miles upstream from the Rock of Abusir, the granite closes in on the river, driving it into a channel less than fifty yards wide. From then on the landscape was convulsed into a series of ridges known in Arabic as Batn el Hagar the Belly of Stone and never was anything more aptly named. From Semna to the Dal Cataract, a distance of 55 miles, the Nile ran swiftly between steep walls of rock."

Though one is in the desert and the other in selva, the Nile struck me as remarkably like the Usumacinta. Both were swift, challenging, and well-used river routes. The Belly of Stone corresponds to the gorge-bound Usu' from Yaxchilan to La Linea. The lengths are even the same. The Usu' canyons follow downstream just as the rapids of the Second Cataract do on the Nile. Each had a parallel overland route: the Usu's was through Piedras Negras and La Pasadita, and the Nile's was the Nubian Road.

"Wherever there was a perilous stretch of water there one would find a(n Egyptian) fortress. They represented military engineering on a scale never before attempted in the ancient world and never to be equaled." The Nile had twelve forts ranged along the Second Cataract. The Usu' valley also has its fortresses: Panhale, La Pasadita, probably Yaxchilan, and maybe others.

Buhen - "The main defensive wall with rectangular towers projecting from it at regular intervals was 5 metres thick and 11 metres high. The number of bricks that went into its construction reached the staggering figure of ten millions. Piercing the bastions were double rows of loopholes, one set for standing and the other for kneeling archers. Buhen was virtually impregnable and nothing short of artillery could have breached its defenses. The architects of 1900 BC were every bit as imaginative and in some ways more advanced than the designers of the fortresses of our Middle Ages."

Mirgissa - "Whenever I think of Nubia, it is Mirgissa Fortress that comes to mind. That improbable mass of brickwork perched above the wildest and most dangerous stretch of the Second Cataract fires the imagination." Not only was it the largest of the Egyptian forts, its outer works sprawled for miles enclosing a river town. "The sandy plain south of the fort was never examined. Had the docks and warehouses been found they could have yielded invaluable information on the maritime and commercial activities of ancient Egypt."

"It is a great misfortune that not one of the forts has been preserved. For close to four thousand years they resisted the abrasive winds of Nubia and it is hard to credit that now in the year of 1974 not one of these absolutely unique structures survives." Being of mud brick, they could not be moved to higher ground. In the rising lake waters, the mud bricks dissolved into just mud.

As the surveys progressed, data accumulated on the river itself. At Mirgissa "the French Mission actually found a slipway which had been used for dragging ships. It took the form of a roadway laid with wooden poles rather like the sleepers of a railroad, each pole being slightly curved. The poles had long been eaten by termites but the dry mud had faithfully retained their imprints just as it had retained the impressions of grooves made by the keels of the ships and the actual footprints of sailors who had pulled the vessels along the slippery surface some forty centuries ago. When I saw the slipway the sand was already drifting over it but still I was able to follow its course due north for three kilometers. The dangerous rapids nearby can be navigated in reasonable safety only during the period of high water between the end of July and November, and the slipway had been constructed to outflank them and make navigation possible throughout the year."

"There can be little doubt that similar slipways would have been found in other dangerous reaches of the Cataract had the archaeologists conducting the Survey known what to look for. All the fortresses must have had quays or even harbors. At Buhen and Serra forts the quays were in situ."

"A careful study of aerial photographs of the Second Cartaract had revealed artificial spurs (wing dams) among several rapids and it is entirely conceivable that had Mills and his colleagues known of the existence of such spurs, which are difficult to spot on the ground, they could well have located and mapped others during their survey of the river and its islands. It is an opportunity lost which can never recur since the whole region is now submerged."

"To sum up then: Professor Vercoutter believes that in the reign of Amenemhet III two massive spur walls were built over the natural barrier at Semna and a high level of water was maintained by other spur walls at Uronarti and Askut, and so on down the length of the Cataract. We are drawn to the remarkable conclusion that one of the great rivers of the world was effectively brought under control nearly forty centuries ago."

The bottom line is that a navigation survey of the entire section of the Nile was badly needed but never done. Only bits and pieces were recorded. Hopefully we'll do better on the Usu'.

Other lessons that I got from UNESCO's Nubian Campaign were:

- An archaeological salvage effort is a huge job, requiring financial help from many nations, multiple teams on the ground, and a long term commitment. Any one project, like a navigation survey or dig, is only a small part.

- A lot more sites turn up than are known at the start. In one part of Nubia they started with a dozen and ended up with 1000, and that was in a desert where you can see things. Think how many may be along the Usumacinta hidden in the selva.

- No matter how good the resources, things are left undone, some for lack of resources, but many because a need was recognized too late.

- Last, and most heartbreaking, the biggest and best are going to be destroyed. All that will survive are documents from the surveys.

1-22-04, Ron Canter, with many quotes from Rex Keating

A search for " Mexico hidroelectrico" on Spanish Google turned up this, from Jan. 6 of this year.

Las dimensiones energética y ambiental en las negociaciones del ALCA

For the first time, the government has given the green light to privately owned hydroelectric plants in Mexico.

EL INFORMADOR - Hidroeléctricas privadas van a operar en México

CIUDAD DE MEXICO.- Por primera vez operarán en México plantas hidroeléctricas privadas, que venderán la energía que produzcan a la industria y a municipios, bajo la figura de autoabastecedores o exportadores.

El Gobierno federal dio luz verde a la construcción de este tipo de plantas de mediana escala, y ofreció concesionar los cauces y presas para que el sector privado pueda operar.

La estrategia fue adoptada a finales del año pasado, luego de la parálisis del proyecto de Reforma del Sector Eléctrico, que obligó al Gobierno federal a ofrecer otras alternativas, dentro del marco legal, al empresariado nacional y extranjero, como la construcción y operación de hidroeléctricas.

I've posted some of these links before, but now I'm collecting them for my own benefit. I hope to be in Piedras Negras, on the Guatemalan shore of the Usumacinta River, in a month or so.

Click MORE for a list of reports on Piedras Negras and the area close by.

And click the photo above for a larger image.

UPDATE 1/19: I missed a link to the FAMSI Piedras Negras photographic archives. You'll find it with the rest of the links.

All of these are reports submitted to FAMSI, which awarded the authors research grants.

Stephen Houston and Hector Escobedo - The Piedras Negras Project, 1997 Season

Stephen D. Houston - Investigations at Piedras Negras, Guatemala: 1998 Field Season - Between Mountains and Sea: Investigations at Piedras Negras, Guatemala - Stephen D. Houston, Héctor Escobedo, Perry Hardin, Richard Terry, David Webster, Mark Child, Charles Golden, Kitty Emery, and David Stuart

Stephen D. Houston - Investigations at Piedras Negras, Guatemala: 1999 Field Season - Among the River Kings: Archaeological Research at Piedras Negras, Guatemala - Stephen D. Houston, Héctor Escobedo, Richard Terry, David Webster, George Veni, and Kitty F. Emery

Stephen D. Houston - The Piedras Negras Project: Preliminary Report of the 2000 Field Season - In the Land of the Turtle Lords: Archaeological Investigations at Piedras Negras, Guatemala - Stephen Houston, Héctor Escobedo, Mark Child, Charles Golden, Richard Terry, and David Webster

Zachary Nelson - The Growth of Piedras Negras, Guatemala

Charles Golden - Sierra del Lacandón Regional Archaeology Project
First Field Season 2003

Arturo Rene Munoz - Ceramics at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

FAMSI - Research Facility - Photographic Archive of the Piedras Negras Project, 1997-2000

Comments resulting from an Institute of the Americas conference on Mexican energy needs.

EnergyPulse - Mexico's Energy Sector: Optimizing Energy for Global Competition

It's the most famous Maya representation of a canoe. This is Linda Schele's drawing of the incised bone design, showing a number of gods paddling a dugout. (Click drawing for a larger image)

Just a little inspiration for the spring Usumacinta trips.

Here's a link to the full-size drawing on the FAMSI website:

FAMSI - Schele Archives - Tikal canoe(JPEG Image, 3090x2075 pixels)

And for Constantine, the link to all the Schele archives. Make sure also to check out Justin Kerr's Mayavase Database - there's a link on the same page.

Schele Drawings Collection

President Bush and Mexican President Fox may begin patching up their differences tomorrow. Recent government statements out of Chiapas seem to be aimed at minimizing the perceived threat of the rebels, with an eye toward increasing foreign investment. The impact on the Usumacinta River, both in immigration and investment terms, bears watching. (This Times article requires free registration)

New York Times - A New Order: Imagining Life Without Illegal Immigrants

The race for the resources in the Usumacinta watershed:

ADITAL :: Grupos empresariales disputan recursos de la selva Lacandona

Tallahassee Democrat | 01/05/2004 | Migrant Mayans largely unnoticed in U.S.

This is far from the Usumacinta, but an opponent of dams died this week. He was George Fisher, a political cartoonist in Arkansas who frequently lampooned the Army Corps of Engineers and other builders of dams.

First, two appreciations of the man:

The Cartoonist Who Fought Dams Hard (washingtonpost.com)

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette :: Opinion

And a gallery of his work:

News & Politics | Remembering George Fisher | December 19, 2003

A summary of the importance of the Usumacinta, and the history of plans for dams on the river through the end of 2002, on the website of the Unión de Grupos Ambientalistas.

UGAM - Usumacinta Realidad Amenazada

So far we have concentrated on the Usumacinta upstream from Boca del Cerro. Below the proposed dam site is one of the most important wetlands in the region.

Terrestrial Ecoregions -- Usumacinta mangroves (NT1437)

Long-term threats to the region include overexploitation of resources, continuous industrial pollution of the waters due to human overpopulation, oil extraction, and the possible construction of building a hydroelectric plant that would impact a large part of the aquatic habitat. According to IUCN (Scott & Carbonell 1986), the Gulf Coast contains the largest area of wetlands in North America.

I looked at this several years ago but now have a little more experience on the river to bring to it. Teobert Maler was one of the giants of Maya exploration and photography. Joel Skidmore, creator of Mesoweb, has given us the best introduction to Maler's work and travels.

Teobert Maler Home Page

Here is the 5-year plan to protect the Usumacinta watershed, released December 18 by Conservation International and Pronatura, Chiapas. It is funded by USAID-Mexico.

No mention of dams anywhere.

Programa para el Manejo de la Cuenca del Río Usumacinta para un Desarrollo Económico con una Sustentabilidad Ambiental (Word document)

Thanks to Jose Yunis at NRDC who brought this document to my attention. On this page is a link to a pdf entitled "Programa de obras e inversiones del sector eléctrico 2002-2011". Note: it is over 100 pages long and may take some time to download on a slow connection. The Boca del Cerro dam is referred to in several places, confirming that it is still being studied.

CFE - Publicaciones CFE

Cambio de Michoacán - Polémica por tema de la reforma energética

CBM - Interés General

Neither Nations Nor Corporations: Community-Based Initiatives as a Keystone for Sustainable Development in Southern México (pdf)

Project Concept Document: Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (Word doc)

ENEL LAUNCHES A NEW HYDROELECTRIC PLANT IN GUATEMALA (Enel) - Pressi.com

IRN just issued a report on large hydroelectric dams, arguing that they have too many negative impacts to be considered viable renewable energy systems.

A link to the pdf of the report can be found at the bottom of this page:

International Rivers Network Report - 12 Reasons to Exclude Large Hydro from Renewables Initiatives

A year ago, Chris Shaw, Alonso Mendez, Moises Morales and I joined Homero and Betty Aridjis in Mexico City. At a press conference, we announced a letter opposing dams on the Usumacinta River, which we then delivered to President Vicente Fox. Well, we dropped it off at Los Pinos, the Mexican White House. Got a signed receipt. Had lunch.

The letter was published in full the next day in Reforma. I believe it played a small part in the shelving of the dam plan, although feasibility studies, and our opposition, continue.

Here's a short note in German, from der Standard, a year ago. Missed it then. Glad the word got around.

derStandard.at - Protest gegen Stausee-Bau in Mexikos Urwald

Yahoo! News - Belize PM Stands by Controversial Dam Project

CBC News - Canadian-backed dam in Belize has support but could be delayed by Britain

Another company making "low impact kinetic turbines."

FREE FLOW TURBINES - RENEWABLE ENERGY

Here's an underwater turbine field that is being deployed in New York City, in the East River off of Roosevelt Island. It uses both ebb and flow tides, at a speed much lower than the flow of the Usumacinta.

TURBINE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT, EAST RIVER, NEW YORK CITY :: VerdantPower.com

Last week, at an energy conference in Mexico City, a friend of Rios Mayas met Sr. Eugenio Laris of CFE under whose supervision the planning for the Rio Usumacinta is progressing. A note from this friend reads as follows:

"He told me that CFE is not planning any construction of dams or other structures that would be intrusive.They are looking for ways to have the natural flow of the river provide some energy...I told him that CFE should get ahead of the curve and meet with the people who are concerned about what they may be up to on the river. He agreed that that would be a good idea."

We've heard something of this before, but it is good to hear it in a fairly direct fashion. With this in mind, we begin collecting information on submersible hydroelectric turbines and other non-intrusive technologies in preparation for a meeting with Sr. Eugenio Laris.

Here's a note on a prticularly efficient turbine design:

New Turbine Can Extract Energy from Flowing Water

This page - Tidepool | Tapping Gravity - has this summary of Gorlov's work:

...Gorlov says a collection of his turbines could be assembled in a grid to create a "power farm" for larger scale generation. He recently designed a system for the South Korean government that could generate 80 megawatts - enough to power 80,000 houses without the need for a dam. Silent and with little disruption to the estuary or river, Gorlov's turbines could be constructed at a cost of just $400 to $600 per kilowatt when put into full production.

Here's another prototype that was tested on the St. Lawrence Seaway for two years:

Davis Hydro Turbine Prototypes

One issue with conventional dams is the free passage of fish. Approaches to insure this (in this case, for salmon) are described here:

Concepts to Allow Salmonid Downstream Passage Through Hydropower Facilities

This overview from the Union of Concerned Scientists points out the problems of large hydroelectric dams and the case for improving run-of-the-river turbine technology.

How Hydroelectric Energy Works

And this PDF has another good overview of microhydro systems:

Small Hydropower Systems

Some background on two of the members of Rios Mayas - a note by Chris Shaw in Outside magazine online from July 2000. It describes the opening of the 700 mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which Ron Canter helped establish.

Outside Online: Exploring - or Through Paddling - the Riverine AT

This November 2000 report highlights the arguments against large dams.

Dams & Development - A new framework for decision-making

An NGO Call to Public Financial Institutions: response to "Dams & Development - A new framework for decision-making"

Follow-up activities to the WCD Report

A huge dam project, expected to sell electricity "as far away as Mexico".

< *The Boruca Hydro-electric Project* >

From the Interamerican Development Bank website.

Sustainable Development Department

And a 1999 pdf on dams in Central America:

The Future Of Large Dams In Latin America and the Caribbean: IDB's Energy Strategy for the Region

Under the direction of Marie-Claire Paiz, this organization is doing heroic work to protect a large part of the Guatemalan shores of the Usumacinta. Here is their page on the Sierra del Lacandon Park.

Parque Nacional Sierra del Lacandón

From Fred Scatena at University of Pennsylvania.

Sierra del Lacandon - project overview - hydrology

Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar.

From JPL and NASA. Charles Golden is in talks to use it to get a detailed scan of the Usumacinta, looking for archaeological sites. One part of building the case for protection of the watershed.

AIRSAR JPL/NASA, Welcome !

A profile of NRDC's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) manager, Joep Luijten, whose maps of the Usumacinta with possible flooding are helping make the case against the dams. But where are the maps?

NRDC: OnEarth Magazine, Summer 2003 - Fieldwork

Excellent maps can be found here:

Sierra del Lacandon - resources - maps

Red Cross response to recent flooding, in Chiapas and several other states.

Red Cross Assists in Mexico Flood Relief Operations (text only)

Protests against the Boca del Cerro plan continue. Here, the Peteneros against the dams.

Prensa Libre - OBJETAN HIDROELÉCTRICAS - Comunidades rurales peteneras temen inundaciones

Based at the University of Florida law school, this is home base for Tom Ankersen, who has worked on legal frameworks for the protection of biosphere reserves in Central America. I think I posted the link to his paper on binational cooperation before, but it's still useful.

Center for Governmental Responsibility - Publications

The Usumacinta River: Building a Framework for Cooperation between Mexico and Guatemala.

Overview of immigrant smuggling on Mexico's southern border, and recent attempts at reform.

Center for Immigration Studies - Mexico's Forgotten Southern BorderDoes Mexico practice at home what it preaches abroad?

An entire CD of information on 154 watersheds of the world, online.

Water Resources eAtlas - Watersheds of the World - NA15 San Pedro & Usumacinta

And the pdf download version (somewhat better detail):

NA27 - San Pedro & Usumacinta

IUCN: Sustainable Use - Sustainable Use throughout IUCN: Mesoamerica

IUCN SSC SUSG - Programme Framework 2002 - 2004

IUCN Water & Nature Initiative - Legal and institutional foundations for sustainable management of water resources in Central America

Here's a photomontage by Trópico Verde showing one conception of what the Usumacinta at Boca del Cerro could look like once a dam is constructed. (click for larger version)

I found it on this site:

Parks Watch - Strengthening Parks To Safeguard Biodiversity

Parks Watch is a project of the Center for Tropical Conservation at Duke University. Also from their site, this map of fires in the region in April, 2003:

Links to a number of pdf documents, from a conference in July of this year. On the website of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation.

Event - Overcoming Renewable Energy Production and Sourcing Constraints in Mexico: Lessons from the Other NAFTA Partners

On the site, a study from Veracruz:

Small Hydro Opportunities in Mexico

In Mexico City, Nov 10-11 2003. Sponsored by the Institute of the Americas.

Mexico Energy Roundtable: Optimizing Energy for Global Competition

From the Organization of American States:

Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment

Transboundary Water Management Projects

Integrated Water Resources Management in Mesoamerica (1998) pdf

And a 313 page pdf that looks like required reading if we intend to take on the Usumacinta binational effort:

Integrated Regional Development Planning: Guidelines and Case Studies from OAS Experience (1984) pdf

"Reviewing 20 years of experience with integrated regional development planning is a humbling exercise. Mistakes and failed plans stand out clearly with the perspective of time, but so do the occasional successfully implemented projects that flowed from the plans...In these accounts, we believe, are information and ideas of use to developing-country governments from the local to the national levels, sectoral agencies, river basin authorities, regional development corporations, other technical assistance groups, and - most of all - field study managers. "

This group seems to be inactive since 2002, but there are resources on their website and information on conferences that were held.

Inter-American Water Resources Network

From York University, a history of the return of Guatemalan refugees to their communities. It includes good background on some of the cooperatives on the east bank of the Usumacinta.

“SOMOS DE LA TIERRA” LAND AND THE GUATEMALA REFUGEE RETURN (pdf)

NOTE: The original source of this paper no longer has it online. I have archived it on this site.

Forbes.com: Mexico utility to issue $533 million in peso debt

CFE said the offering has generated "an enormous interest from investors" and that proceeds will finance various power- generation projects.

Here's a photo, from Trópico Verde, of the power lines being cut through La Cojolita, the latest fragmenting of the Lacandon/Peten forest. This is in Tabasco, Mexico, near the Guatemalan border.

Inter-American Development Bank Loan proposal as of May 2003

IADB Guatemala - Plan Puebla Panama Guatemala-Mexico Electricity Interconnection Project (pdf)

Notes from a 1996 roundtable on the Rio Usumacinta:

Usumacinta Roundtable

The Usumacinta River (pdf)

I just received more disheartening news from Roan McNab on the situation in the Peten. His full letter can be found by clicking MORE below.

And based on a comment in his letter I am looking into the PROARCA program of USAID which is putting money into preserving the Usumacinta watershed. I'll put links I find below:

USAID: Central America Regional Program

...work will support Central American countries' efforts to monitor and protect key watersheds, among these the Usumacinta border area watershed between Guatemala and Mexico

Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: Key partners include: a consortium formed by The Nature Conservancy (prime), the World Wildlife Foundation (sub), and Rainforest Alliance (sub), for activities to improve management of protected areas and to promote market access for environmentally sound products and services; Associates in Rural Development, Inc., for promotion of less polluting technologies to municipalities and private sector industries; and a grant to SICA and the Central American Council for Environmental Development (CCAD) to strengthen environmental management in the region. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a collaborating agency that supports work on the legal and regulatory frameworks. A planned cooperative agreement will provide subgrants to Central American organizations collaborating under PROARCA.

IADB Executive Profile for Regional Dialog on the Environment - Meso-American Sub-Region

Amigos,

I regret to inform you that it appears the situation in and around
Macabilero is hot again. In Sept armed Mexican loggers entered into a
shootout with SEPRONA and Army personnel sent to patrol the park. Young
man Joe Soto, the student developing the Jag survey, had found the area
full of xateros from Mex and Gua, and rumors of well armed dudes.
Apparently the Defensores (FDN) were not aware (?), as they had not
mentioned any of these problems when we proposed staking out $10K of
cameras on trees in the area. Now, a shootout and confrontations later,
we are left in the position where FDN proposed Soto keep working there,
getting rides into the area with the army on the FDN boat, and that he then stay there alone. We know only temporary accompanyment by law enforcement people will leave our guys very exposed, and more, what would illegal dudes think of the cameras. I am frankly a wee bit molesto that FDN has not heeded Soto's wishes, they are investing very little in the study, and certainly not their life, as Soto would be. He is the only one of them all who has been spending much time there in the field. He feels unsafe, so I respect that. So, unfortunately WCS will not be sending cameras there unless something changes fast.

I want to keep on with a study in the Macabilero area. But it needs to
be controlled first, and indeed because as Laguna del Tigre, the heart
of Lacandon is now becoming ingovernable, my hope is that the
cancellation of this investigation in the area will serve as a wake up
call. I for one am ready to pressure for more investment in protection,
but these monies were only for studying Jaguars. WCS can not play the
role of patroller in Lacandon, that is the place of FDN. In most places,
the current level of "protection" in "Protected Areas" is rediculous. No
wonder they fare poorly. How could they be expected to perform well? Six
guards for all of the forest of Calakmul, for example. Not even in the
US, where the standard of living is "high" do Nat Res officers go unarmed, and without the resources to reach the remote parts of their site. Lacandon, and the FDN then, need support to attain the number of guards, and the additional resources that make the protection of the park viable. A model exists in terms of guards and investment per
hectare....Tikal. And since the income for Lacandon and the saveable
part of Laguna del Tigre will not come from tourism as in Tikal, the
answer that seems most viable, and the only "permanent solution" lurking
anywhere within grasp is Trust Funds. Endowments for the parks.

My take on the Maya Forest is that unless something happens soon it will
continue to shrink and the world will awake too late after much has been
lost. To save it from the Guatemalan side, we need to hold the fort in
Lacandon, save the east of Laguna del Tigre, ensure the forest
concessions are well managed, and protect the north eastern part of the
Biosphere, Rio Azul, from an international road. The IDB seems to be
quite discombobulated in their planning for the Mundo Maya roads, and
other things. Many mistakes, and tremendous amounts of money spent
already. This is documentary material, bad planning, bad loans,
deception, ineptitude, and the vicious cycle of debt.... I have IDB docs
recently released which claim that they have consulted the communty of Uaxactun about the plans...I showed these docs to people, leaders, in Uaxactun and watched their faces melt first, then swell with anger as they read the name "Uaxactun" on a list of "Communities Consulted", and later in the doc, when they saw plans for Q44 million invested as a loan to the Guatemalan people to pave the 23 KM from Tikal to Uaxactun...and then the Q.5,500,000 for a "visitor's center" in the heart of the
village...concrete bastardass fake maya temples of the most gut-emptying
design...I have photos too.

Add to that all of the IDBs support now thrown behind the Hansen
proposal in Mirador ($450K first installment), and one has to wonder
what the big IDB plan is.

Word is that Proarca- the regional AID project, or perhaps a trilateral
US Gua Mex project of AID will soon be preparing plans to invest some $1
million in the Usumacinta cuenca. I asked why. No real response. By the
way, have you seen the fotos from Tropicoverde of the powerlines being
put in through La Cojolita on the Mex side of Lacandon?

It seems like more people willing to be proactive on behalf of the Maya
Forest in the US could help. Perhaps of all the Maya Forest, Guatemala
is the weakest link (outside of Mexican Chiapas which seems like a even
more complex situation). In Guatemala, groups are forming and people
joining hands. These exists a group of institutions and people currently
fighting to save the macaw nesting areas in Laguna del Tigre, perhaps
the last good section of that park that can be saved. This is being done under the threat of PNLdT being delisted from RAMSAR. I personally find such a threat from RAMSAR a good thing. RAMSAR is pissed that Guatemala has not lived up to its word after signing the convention, and applying
for/receiving Ramsar designation for LdT, the largest freshwater wetland
in Mesoamerica. In the Central Maya Biosphere area there is a group
forming to monitor the moves of the IDB, and inform all in the area of
the information, and misinformation, that exists. Then there is ACOFOP,
dogging Dr. Hansen through every step of realizing his dream of Mirador
Basin National Monument - that he has almost rammed down the throats of
the forest concessions advocates (ACOFOP). ACOFOP is supported by CALAS.
Then there is your group and all the riverheads. All interesting efforts.

How can all this ever get to critical mass?
We've made some small advances.
But much has been lost, and the outlook is not good frankly.

Any notions on how we can arrive at a "permanent solution" would be greatly appreciated...

Best Wishes,
RBM

Vicente Fox's government is negotiating with the PRI opposition for a constitutional amendment to allow more private investment, particularly in electrical generation.

Mexican government seeks political support for electricity sector reform

Elias Ayub, head of the Federal Electricity Commission, or CFE, reiterated that the sector requires investment of more than US$50 billion in the next decade to meet demand growth. The CFE is estimating demand will grow 5.4 percent annually in the next 10 years.

In its 2002-2011 investment outlook, the CFE estimates it will require around US$50 billion in investment by 2011, including more than US$20 billion for generation.

Charles Golden passed along a note he had gotten, about a break or brecha, cut by the Mexican electrical commission through an area known as La Cojolita. His correspondent commented on the danger of cutting through this critical connection between the Selva Lacandon in Mexico, and the Peten in Guatemala.

The continued fragmentation of the remaining forest in the region has been a growing crisis for the last 30 years. In a search for "La Cojolita" I ran across several interesting documents.

First, two descriptions of the situation and the efforts to protect the selva. They are a couple of years old but the destruction continues.

At the Crossroads of Conservation and Development - The Challenge of the Maya Forest (pdf)

Taller sobre Biodiversidad, Areas Naturales Protegidas y Corredores Biológicos (pdf)

Then, a feature on Mesoweb written by three top researchers in the Palenque area - Karen Bassie-Sweet, Julia Miller, and Alfonso Morales.

Mesoweb Features: Don Juan Mountain and the Road to Palenque (pdf)

The Sierra del Lacandon site, by Charles Golden and Fred Scatena of the University of Pennsylvania, has new maps and resources on the effect of dams of various heights on the Usumacinta watershed.

Sierra del Lacandon - resources - maps

Looking into GIS software for use on the river in the next year, I find ESRI dominant in the field but with little Macintosh support. Rivix is selling a specialized river package called RiverTools that looks promising.

Rivix.com: RiverTools

The Usumacinta River is on the 2004 list of 100 most endangered sites, according to this note in Archaeology Magazine online

The links on this page to highlights of the list don't appear to be working. I'll look for the right link.

2004 List of 100 Most Endangered Sites Announced

UPDATE:

Here's the page at World Monuments Fund:

World Monuments Watch 2004

and the list itself:

World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites (pdf)

A summary of Mexico's energy situation, from The Arizona Republic, in June of this year.

Mexico confronts energy dilemmas

I get fairly few comments on this weblog, but I have just gotten one from Ing. Ricardo Catalán, who delineates the potential damage to Guatemala from the proposed Boca del Cerro dam, and argues eloquently against it. (click More to read his comment)

Los gobiernos de Guatemala y México realizan acuerdos entre los presidentes como un procedimiento político, protocolario y sobre todo publicitario. Desafortunadamente tambien realizan acuerdos como el ppp u otros tratados internacionales mediante los cuales los países más grandes y más poderosos tratan de obtener más ventajas en todo sentido sobre los países pequeños y por consiguiente más débiles. Lo mencionado anteriormente se aplica exactamente al caso del aprovechamiento hidroeléctrico del río Usumacinta. Es conveniente hacer ver a las personas que ignoran algunos aspectos que no son equitativos y que pueden causar más daño a uno de los dos países, en este caso Guatemala.
1.- La naturaleza topográfica debido a la conformación geológica en territorio de Guatemala, en donde se presentan terrazas aluviales y en donde hace millones de años existía mar ya que se han encontrado fósiles marinos, por esta razón la topografía es bastante plana y extensa. Es tan plana que el caudal del río La Pasión que desemboca en el río Usumacinta, en época de invierno cuando se presentan crecidas, el cadual forma un remanso que no permite accesar libremente al río. Sin embargo, del lado oeste del río Usumacinta, en territorio mexicano, existen montañas más altas que la altura de las presas proyectadas.
2.- Lo mencionado anteriormente equivale a decir que la inundación que producirían los embalses, sería mínima del lado mexicano mientras que sería muy extensa del lado guatemalteco. Por lo que se considera justo que México compense a Guatemala con territorio mexicano para que ambos países se vean afectados y compensados territorialmente en la misma proporción.
3.- Por la misma razón mencionada los daños y perjuicios que se ocasionaría al territorio guatemalteco sería mucho mayor, ya que quedarían inundados sitios arqueológicos muy importantes para la historia de la humanidad, los cuales son tan extensos y misteriosos que no se ha logrado investigar cada uno de ellos muchos de los cuales aún permanecen dentro de la selva vírgen.
4.- Existen formaciones calizas que originan el karst y dolinas (ziguanes)que hacen flucuar las aguas del lago de Petén Itzá en donde se encuentra la ciudad de Flores. Si estas fluctuaciones se manifiestan actualmente, es de suponer que las mismas se incrementarían con el peso del volúmen del agua de los embalses, en perjuicio de miles de guatemaltecos.
5.- Guatemala posee más de 10,000 Mw. de reserva de energía hidroeléctrica distribuidos en más de 240 proyectos hidroeléctricos que fueron identificados y estudiados preliminarmente por la GTZ y el consorcio LAMI-LSF, en el inventario realizado por el Plan Maestro de Electrificación Nacional del Instituto Nacional de Electrificación. Por consiguiente Guatemala tiene suficientes fuentes de energía de donde podría recurrir cuando la necesaite.
6.- México es el más interesado en desarrollar el proyecto Usumacinta, por motivo que ya ha agotado casi todos sus recursos hidroeléctricos y ha tenido que importar energía electrica proveniente de los estados Unidos de Norteamérica y de Canadá.
7.- Nuestros pequeños países debemos de protegernos de no aceptar convenios que dañan su soberanía, su historia y su ecología.

From now through February 2004, entries are being accepted for a contest of photography of the Usumacinta River and its surroundings. Sponsored by the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, el Consejo Estatal para la Cultura y las Artes de Chiapas, el Instituto de Cultura de Campeche y la Secretaría de Cultura, Recreación y Deporte de Tabasco a través del Programa de Desarrollo Cultural del Usumacinta

XXII Concurso Nacional de fotografía Antropológica (méxico) - 1er. Concurso de Fotografía del Usumacinta

Ron Canter sent his comments on Fahsen's Dos Pilas report, published in June on the FAMSI site. (Click MORE for the rest of his letter)

Dave,
After reading through Federico Fahsen's summary of the history of the Pasion/Usu' river system, I just had to make a few more comments. I was thrilled to see the case for the importance of the river trade routes laid out well. Their key role in long distance trade, and the vicious warring over the wealth flowing along them, seems fully understood. He also articulated a key observation, that "Each major center is located at critical portages, junctures of tributaries, or other loci". So, quibbling over some details should not be meant to take away from that. Rather, I think Dr. Fahsen has done very well while having some rather incomplete info on the rivers.

"The river route begins in Cancuen to the south, where it becomes navigable, and connects the the highlands of Guatemala to the great capitals." True and not true. I think this reflects Demarest's fixed idea that Cancuen is the head of navigation for the Pasion. Cancuen probably was head of navigation for the big boys, pitpans over 8 meters long. Smaller canoes could keep going south up the Rio Sebol for another 68 km. Steve Radzi and John Montgomery have both traveled the Sebol, so it is navigable. Dr. Fahsen is right about the link to the highlands. Obsidian, which is just a load of heavy rocks until worked, would have flowed from El Chayal down the rivers, the easy way to go.

"This route ... served to connect with central Peten by trails, and to the Caribbean through the San Juan-Salsipuedes-Mopan river systems or through the Machaquila-Mopan rivers (Laporte and Mejian 2002)". Actually, the first route is almost right, but the second impossible by canoe. From Cancuen to Ceibal, the eastern tributaries of the Pasion are brawling whitewater rivers tumbling through the karstlands between the the Maya Mtns and the Pasion. The San Juan is navigable for only the last 9 km and the Machaquila even less. A canoe route using the Machaquila is out of the question. Tammy Ridenour runs whitewater raft trips down it.

If one started at Ceibal, and went up the San Martin for about 12 km, they could then go overland to the Mopan (or the Salsipuedes in the wet season) and run down that until rapids started. A carry from Tziquin Tzacan to Xunantunich, across a long loop of the river, would reach the next navigable water- for medium sized canoes. The big boats could get up the Belize River only to Cahal Pech, modern Cayo San Ignacio.

My last observation is that two elements are left out of the picture: salt and Altar de Sacrificios. In the entire upper Usu'/Pasion basin there is only one salt source, at Nueve Cerros, and Altar' controlled it. A natural fortress on a neck of land, Altar' was also postioned to control ALL river trade between the Pasion and Salinas rivers, and the Usumacinta downstream too. Dos Pilas is near the midpoint of a practical carry across the neck of the broad peninsula between the Salinas and Petexbatun rivers. Such a carry would have diverted Salinas-Pasion trade around Altar' and cut it off at the knees. I don't know all the ins and outs, but I'd be surprised if Altar de Sacrificios wasn't in the thick of it.

Ron

I traveled to Mexico last winter on the Yucatan Express, Tampa to Progreso. Loved it. Took my van. Drove on the ship, had a vehicle, drove back on and went home.

I've gotten a number of comments, questions about this service and when it would begin again.

I intended to do it again this year, but the company is apparently unwilling to lose money again - they tried and failed last year to open up a second port. Here's their explanation:

"Due to the lack of a second port in the Yucatan Peninsula, we need to delay the resumption of the Yucatan Express. This has been a hard decision for us - we have been working very hard to find a solution to the inaccessibility of Puerto Morelos - but we have run out of time for this season and it is clear that the route cannot work with just one port. We did have great loads through the end of last season but it is just not cost effective to have our ship sitting idle half the week.

The GOOD NEWS is that we do believe in the Florida-Mexico market and will continue working hard to resolve the issues which have necessitated this interim delay in service. We continue to work on channel dredging for Morelos and hope to begin accepting vacation reservations early next year for recommencement of Yucatan Express service in Nov '04."

Not good enough news. Damn.

Yucatan Express

Hispanic Business - 7th Annual Mexican Energy conference, October 27-28, 2003 in Houston

In our efforts to protect the Usumacinta, we will need to address the real energy needs of Mexico, offering some alternative to the hydroelectric dam at Boca del Cerro.

From the Arizona Republic online:

Mexico confronts energy dilemmas

The PRI and PRD both gained seats in Mexico's lower house during midterm elections July 6. The PAN lost almost one-fourth of its seats, and its bid to open up Mexico's energy sector seem in more danger than ever. But even without privatization, the two other parties have to act to modernize the industry so it can meet the country's energy needs, growing at 4 to 8 percent each year.

Charles Golden of U. Penn has filed a report on his first season survey of the area between Yaxchilan and Piedras Negras, on the Guatemalan shore of the Usumacinta River. (Click on map to see larger image)

Reports Submitted to FAMSI - Charles Golden - Sierra del Lacandón Regional Archaeology Project First Field Season 2003

"...the SLRAP was charged by park authorities with creating a cultural inventory of the park in low-lying areas adjacent to the Usumacinta River that are threatened by inundation resulting from the construction of hydroelectric dams at the Boca del Cerro in Tabasco, México. The SLRAP achieved great success in its first field season, and established the basis for future research in the park. Members of the project identified two previously unknown sites and investigated two sites that had been informally reported, but not adequately documented."

Reports Submitted to FAMSI - Federico Fahsen - Rescuing the Origins of Dos Pilas Dynasty: A Salvage of Hieroglyphic Stairway #2, Structure L5-49

"This wide trade and transport route begins as a navigable waterway at Cancuén and flows northward, then west, then northwest to connect most of the greatest kingdoms of the west. Each major center is located at critical portages, junctures of tributaries, or other loci whose importance can be explained in terms of the river system. Tres Islas, Altar de Sacrificios, and Yaxchilán are placed at junctures with other river systems or land routes. Ceibal is located where the Pasión turns west and the trade route divides, going westward to Altar de Sacrificios, Yaxchilán, Piedras Negras, and past Palenque to the Gulf of México, or going eastward by land to the great centers of the Central Petén. From the Late Preclassic, if not earlier, this great system of river and land routes functioned as the true Maya highway of the western and central Petén."

For those who believe the CFE's announcements that the Boca del Cerro dam plan has been shelved, here is a presentation from June of this year. It has a good overview of the Mexican electrical power system and future expansion. At the end is a note concerning projects open to outside investors, including Boca del Cerro.

June 2003 CFE Presentation (PDF)

This web page gives a broad overview of the Plan Puebla Panama and the opposition to it. It includes a description of the planned unification of the Central American electrical grid and plans for new hydroelectric dams to feed it.

7/9/02 PPP Coalition Educational Booklet Draft

Years after Stephen Houston finished work in Piedras Negras, National Geographic gives us a "Field Dispatch" with a brief summary of the site, comments by Houston, and some good links to other info.

August Resources @ National Geographic Magazine

Ari Hershowitz at NRDC has been busy on this. Also check out his letter on the case.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Dam appeal for privy council

"The privy council, the final court of appeal for Commonwealth countries, will be asked today for an injunction to stop a dam being built in Belize, the first time an environmental case has reached this level.

Detractors say the dam will provide only a small part of the electricity the country needs but destroy the best habitat for such endangered species as jaguars and tapirs, and nesting trees for the last 200 scarlet macaws in the country."

From Alfonso, an article in Reforma on thermoelectric plans in Mexico. Towards an energy assessment of Boca del Cerro dam plans.

reforma.com --- Amagan parar termoeléctrica

From Ari at NRDC:

> Dear Friends of the Macal River Valley,
>
> Get your tickets for London: the Chalillo dam will be on trial before
> the highest court in the Commonwealth this month, the Privy Council of
> London, which has its hearings in a small hall near 10 Downing Street.
> The court date is tentatively set for July 30 and BACONGO has a truly
> stellar team of attorneys to argue the case. (continues below)

> The case against the dam has gotten stronger, and now has become a fight
> over the most basic of human rights: the right to a fair public hearing,
> and the right to equal protection of the law--i.e. a foreign billion
> dollar corporation should not have more rights than a citizen of
> Belize. Belize's government, in a move decried by local media as the
> policy of Fortis' Banana Republic, bulldozed a new Act through
> parliament that purports to make the dam legal, no matter what any court
> says. The law is unconstitutional, and may provoke a constitutional
> crisis, if Fortis acts upon it. The questions about individual
> enrichment in this scheme loom greater, and the international community
> will be investigating this dam not only as an attack on the environment,
> but on the rule of law, and on good governance.
>
> Below is an update, written in haste. For more information, contact me
> at ahershowitz@nrdc.org, though I will be in and out of touch this
> coming week. We hope to be updating the www.stopfortis.org site as
> well.
>
> We plan to have a gathering and strategy session for the continuing
> campaign with supporters in London in the days before the
> hearing--please let me know if you are interested in attending, or know
> someone who is.
>
> All the best,
> Ari
>
>
>
>
> Chalillo dam update, Belize
> July 14, 2003
>
> Highest Court to Judge Belize Dam this month: Unconstitutional law
> attempts to support dam construction
>
> Human rights in Belize are on the line, as the case against the
> Canadian-backed Chalillo dam will be heard by the highest court in the
> British commonwealth, the Privy Council in London, at the end of July.
>
> Belizean groups are asking for an injunction to stop dam construction.
> BACONGO, a coalition of Belizean environmental groups, will make its
> case that dam approval was rammed through the environmental approval
> process without a legally required public hearing, and without the basic
> studies of dam geology and archaeology that are required to know if the
> dam design is safe and to know the extent of ancient Maya sites that
> would be destroyed by the project.
>
> In an act of desperation, at the beginning of June, Fortis and the
> government of Belize, rushed through the "Macal River Hydro Development
> Act", also known as the "Fortis-is-above-the-law Act". The Act attempts
> to legalize the dam *despite the ruling of any court*, and "commands"
> BECOL, Fortis' local subsidiary, to build the dam. Experts in England,
> Canada and Belize say the Act is in direct violation of Belize's
> constitution and is likely to be overturned.
>
> Rushing ahead of the court ruling, Fortis has begun construction on the
> dam, even though the rainy season has started, making it a race against
> time, the weather and justice-any tropical storm could wash away
> Fortis/BECOL's structures, posing a safety risk to workers and
> downstream communities, and the court ruling may stop the dam
> construction in its tracks-that is if Fortis obeys the court order.
>
> BACONGO has lined up its legal team in England, including of some of the
> top environmental and constitutional experts. BACONGO and its
> international partners also plan to challenge the new
> Fortis-is-above-the-law Act in international human rights courts.
>
> BACONGO will also attack the economics of the dam-at $30 million US for
> a 2.9 Megawatt capacity project, it is one of lowest value
> hydro-electric dams in the world. Belizeans, who now pay the highest
> rates of electricity in Central America-nearly three times the price
> that their neighbors pay in Guatemala and Mexico-are demanding fair
> electricity rates. The international community is also beginning to
> scrutinize the financial deals behind the project, and follow the money
> trail to the individuals who stand to benefit.
>

Charles Golden has recently returned after his first season doing a survey of Maya sites between Yaxchilan and Piedras Negras, on the Guatemalan side of the Usumacinta River.

Charles will be completing a report on the survey sometime this summer.

Time to post again this link to the Homepage of the Sierra del Lacandon Regional Archaeology Project.

The map above (click for a larger image) should help orient folks who are new to this weblog and to the campaign to prevent the construction of dams on the river.

Thanks to Analia Gonzalez for sending me this letter from the InterAmerican Development Bank, dated March 19, stating that they are not providing funds for the Boca del Cerro dam, nor have they received such a request. They are funding power transmission and rural electrification projects only, they say, not power generation.

However the $240 million that the IDB agreed in 2001 to loan to the System of Electrical Interconnection for the Countries of Central America (SIEPAC) does make building the dam, and selling the electricity, more attractive.

This report, THE BARRIERS TO BOCA DEL CERRO, confirms that not only is the Bocal del Cerro dam still underway, but 4 other "small" dams are still being studied.

This is a summary of opposition to the Boca del Cerro dam. It appeared in a publication called "Water Power and Dam Construction" on March 31, 2003, three days after the governor of Tabasco said there would be no dams. He had CFE's word on it.

From the article:

"CFE, however, remains poker-faced about its plans. The closest it has come to an explanation is a news statement that: 'No project exists to build a high dam curtain on the Usumacinta River. Many years ago the CFE cancelled a project with those characteristics.'

But an internal CFE report obtained by the author suggests the electricity commission may have found sites for the 'five little dams' agreed last summer. According to a reliable source, this internal report appeared in late October and is the CFE's latest plan for the Usumacinta river."

"...The report does not indicate Boca del Cerro has been cancelled. It appears on the project map alongside the four new dams, although it is not mentioned in the report.

CFE spokesman Ignacio Cabrera confirmed that feasibility studies were being carried out with regard to the four dams. These studies, according to the report, must be done in Guatemala as well as Mexico."

Here's the link, to a site of Plan Puebla Panama information that printed it in its entirety. I am going to do the same. You'll find it below.

INFORMACION PPP 2003 - THE BARRIERS TO BOCA DEL CERRO

INSIGHT MEXICO; THE BARRIERS TO BOCA DEL CERRO
Mexico's plans to tap the energy of the Usumacinta are highly controversial, as Jason McGahan explains

It has been at least 30 years since engineers from Mexico's Federal Commission of Electricity (CFE) first surveyed southeastern Mexico and learned just how much electricity can be generated at Boca del Cerro.

The site lies at the point where the most torrential river in Mesoamerica, the Usumacinta, rushes at its greatest velocity out of the rugged Chiapan Highlands into a narrow canyon before being released onto the broad plains of Tabasco. A dam at this spot could potentially generate 4200MW.

The locals call it Boca del Cerro, or mouth of the hill. But for the engineers at CFE, it is the punishment of Tantalus. Twice already they have announced plans for the dam that have not been realised. The third attempt is currently under intense scrutiny.

The previous attempts to realise the potential of the site were during the administrations of Miguel de la Madrid in 1988 and Carlos Salinas in 1992. But they failed because although the site's potential is unmatched in Mexico, a dam at Boca del Cerro would flood a large expanse of jungle known as the Lacandon that is famed for its biological diversity, archeological ruins and insurgent indigenous population.

The question of who would finance the project is also unanswered. Mexico's constitution explicitly forbids foreign investment in its energy sector.
President Vicente Fox can circumvent this protectionist measure through the CFE's 'external producer programme', in which foreign investors must sell nearly all the electricity they produce back to the CFE. But the more lucrative independent producer programmes have been stalled since a Supreme Court ruling last spring found them unconstitutional. Fox's subsequent attempt at a constitutional amendment has been met with bitter opposition. Electricity reform in Mexico has no timetable.

An additional complication is the site's location near Mexico's border with Guatemala and the near-certainty that floodwaters would inundate part of the Peten jungle in northwestern Guatemala. The political problem of the effect on Guatemala are more difficult to solve, as opposition in that country has proven itself uninterested in the electricity it would receive from the project.

Binational progress

Despite the barriers, a binational dam agreement has been announced between Mexico and Guatemala, following a 28 June summit meeting of Central American leaders in Merida, Yucatan. Fox and Guatemalan president Alfonso Portillo announced they would co-operate on 'five small dams' along the Usumacinta where it constitutes the Mexican-Guatemalan border.

The agreement also marked Mexico's late entrance into an project already begun between the governments of Central America to create a regional power grid connecting six other countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama. Granted a US$240M loan by the Inter-American Development Bank in December 2001, the System of Electrical Interconnection for the Countries of Central America (SIEPAC) is moving forward with a price tag of US$320M.

Working within the framework already formed by SIEPAC in Central America, Fox agreed to share with Guatemala the hydroelectricity to be generated by the dams in southern Mexico. For his part, Portillo must prepare northwestern Guatermala to accept part of the inundation.

For Fox, the dam construction and interconnected energy grids are key steps in his regional development plan, the Plan Puebla Panama. Once these developments are in place, Fox wants to see inland ports, irrigation projects, hotels and foreign-owned factories in Mexico's tropical southeast. He also foresees Mexico taking part in plans to industrialise the length of the Central American isthmus from Guatemala to Panama.

However, the Boca del Cerro project, considered by many to potentially be the most productive in the region, has been beset by bad publicity since it was announced.

An article in the New York Times on 12 October 2002 warned that the ruins of two ancient Mayan civilisations would be inundated by a dam at Boca del Cerro. CFE moved quickly to announce it had scaled back the size of the dam from 130m to 25m, and that the fears of the archeologists were unfounded. But complaints from archeologists continued. In November, a set of well-preserved Mayan cave paintings was discovered just a few kilometers from the dam site.
Archeologists from Mexico's National Institute of Archaeology and History (INAH) who were performing feasibility studies for the CFE estimated that as many as 220 Mayan sites would be flooded. The INH also claimed it was alienated by a lack of information from CFE, eventually publishing an open letter in the daily newspaper Reforma on 22 December, saying that its archeologists had not received any definitive technical plans from the CFE regarding Boca del Cerro.
Environmentalists have begun to publish their opinions in the Mexico City dailies and the project remains in the spotlight. CFE, however, remains poker-faced about its plans. The closest it has come to an explanation is a news statement that: 'No project exists to build a high dam curtain on the Usumacinta River. Many years ago the CFE cancelled a project with those characteristics.'
But an internal CFE report obtained by the author suggests the electricity commission may have found sites for the 'five little dams' agreed last summer. According to a reliable source, this internal report appeared in late October and is the CFE's latest plan for the Usumacinta river.

New dams
Four new dams are being considered to the south of Boca del Cerro along an 89km stretch of the Usumacinta where it forms Mexico's border with Guatemala. None of the four dams is to exceed 19m in height, and each would take advantage of the Usumacinta's northward descent through the Chiapas highlands. The four dams, as they appear on the project map from north to south are: La Linea, 13m; El Provenir, 17m; Isla el Cayo, 17m; and Yaxchilan, 19m. Since the river flows from south to north, all four dams would precede Boca del Cerro, and thus reduce its potential generating capacity. CFE calculates the four dams would have a total installed potential of 2100MW.
The report does not indicate Boca del Cerro has been cancelled. It appears on the project map alongside the four new dams, although it is not mentioned in the report.
CFE spokesman Ignacio Cabrera confirmed that feasibility studies were being carried out with regard to the four dams. These studies, according to the report, must be done in Guatemala as well as Mexico.
'A great limiting factor is to make good use of the river without altering its course,' said Cabrera. 'Dams that alter the course of the river must not be built. We want to avoid inundations.' To this end, the CFE would build these dams so they would be barely visible above the surface of the river.

Generating capacity

One critic of the plan says it would reduce generating capacity and thus rob Mexico of a powerful energy resource. Manuel Frias Alcaraz is an ex-CFE engineer and he said: 'Boca del Cerro is Mexico's most important project, and it's most productive. The Usumacinta is a virgin river. It is the axis of all the other rivers in the region.'
Frias said 25m is too short for a dam on the Usumacinta. He said erosion will clog the dam with mud and offer a smaller return on investment.
He is perhaps the most vocal supporter of the original 130m dam. 'We have to make use of our natural resources,' he said, adding that a dam of this size would accelerate a number of other plans for the region.
For example, it could provide water for the irrigation projects being planned for the Yucatan Peninsula and energy for the inland port being planned for Villahermosa, Tabasco.
'The government says this project would generate a lot of social conflict,' said Frias. 'On the contrary, it will resolve problems of social character through the creation of jobs. It will make social spending unnecessary.'
The Mexican government is taking a more cautious approach with regard to the people of Chiapas, as shown by the frequent references to 'political viability' in the CFE report.
This is not surprising. In addition to outraged environmentalists and archeologists in the region, the insurgent Zapatista Army of National Liberation remains an important factor.
Although voluntarily disarmed for several years, the Zapatistas made front-page news for their New Year's Eve descent into the tourist-heavy city of San Cristobal de Las Casas. Twenty-five thousand indigenous from the region marched into the central plaza wearing ski masks and brandishing machetes and torches. After a series of fiery speeches from the principal command, the rank and file fanned out into the plaza, breaking windows and lighting a bonfire in the central plaza. The stretch of river reserved for the four dams plus Boca del Cerro is known to be inhabited by Zapatista rebels.
'The reality is that the project must be socially viable,' said CFE director of project investments Eugenio Laris Alanis. '(It must be) as socially viable for the investors as it is for the people.
'As of now, we have no investors, because we have no project. We are only doing site studies.' And he pointed out that 'These are projects that, when their moment comes, must pass through the Guatemalan government'.

Dam studies

Studies have been completed for dozens of dams in southeastern Mexico, particularly in the tropical state of Chiapas. And binational dam sites are not restricted to the Usumacinta river. The rivers that form the Usumacinta watershed have been studied by CFE. Two dams known as Huixtan I and Huixtan II along the Santo Domingo river, an important tributary to the Usumacinta, are under consideration. Three other dam sites have also been studied for the same watershed, on the rivers Jatate, Tzaconeja, and Lacantun.
'The directors of the CFE tell me there are many groups on the Guatemalan side that don't want this project because it will destroy their land,' said Frias Alcaraz. 'But the Guatemalan government wants the project because the country lacks electricity.'
He adds 'It has reached a level of international politics where everyone asks himself, 'which is the most palatable scenario?'

Copyright 2003 Wilmington Publishing Limited , Water Power & Dam Construction, March 31, 2003

Here's a recent report, in Spanish, from Guatemalans who took a trip in June from Bethel to Boca del Cerro and saw signs that the dam construction is moving ahead.

In a section of background information, it mentions our letter to Mexican president Vicente Fox.

Noticias - Sigue temor en Petén

I've finally uploaded Kirk French's thesis on Maya waterworks at Palenque. The link is in place on the Barnhart/French post where I originally wrote about it. But here's another chance to read Kirk's work and look at the maps that came out of the Palenque Mapping Project.

(Note: This file is over 6 mB, so be advised it could take a while to download)

Creating Space Through Water Management at the Classic Maya Site of Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico (PDF)

Dominga Sic Ruiz lost her father, along with 70 other men in her village, to the conflict over the building of the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala.

Guatemala native shares story of her quest for justice

She was adopted by an couple in Iowa, and grew up as Denese Becker. Her discovery of the truth of her childhood will be broadcast on PBS, July 8th.

P.O.V. - 2003 Preview . Discovering Dominga | PBS

One of the pleasures of my last trip to Palenque was spending time with Dr. Ed Barnhart, who is responsible for the Palenque Mapping Project, and by extension, the careers of several upcoming archaeologists. The photo above shows Ed in front of one of the most impressive aqueducts at Palenque, built by the Maya over 1300 years ago (sorry, Ed, that's just my guess).

One of the members of the mapping team, Kirk French, has completed a thesis on the subject of Palenque's waterworks. It includes a number of the maps that came out of Ed's project.

(Note: This file is over 6 mB, so be advised it could take a while to download)

Creating Space Through Water Management at the Classic Maya Site of Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico (PDF)

When we began work to prevent the Boca del Cerro dam on the Usumacinta River, Natural Resources Defense Council was busy with the Chixoy Dam. But Ari Hershowitz at NRDC quickly realized the importance of the Usumacinta and pushed to have it declared one of their BioGems, spotlighting the danger to the river. Here's the page on the NRDC site. Thanks again, Ari!

Save the Usumacinta River

The German engineering firm in charge of the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala (Ari Hershowitz of NRDC has been active in opposing it) was convicted of bribery charges in Lesotho, Africa.

International Rivers Network: Lesotho

"Lahmeyer International has worked on several controversial World Bank-funded dam projects. They were responsible for engineering and construction supervision on the Yacyreta Dam on the Argentina-Paraguay border (also marred by massive corruption) and the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala (best known for the massacre of Mayan Indians who refused to be moved for the dam). They are currently involved in the Nam Theun 2 Dam in Laos, which is set to receive World Bank funding."

Chiapas and the Adirondacks in the same project. Other folks besides Chris, Ron, and myself making that connection.

Democrat & Chronicle: Kodak gives $500,000 to preserve land

I've posted very little on the damage that a dam at Boca del Cerro would do to the Usumacinta delta area, downstream from the dam. It's one of the largest wetlands in the hemisphere. Here's a description of that region that I've just found. (Photo by Fulvio Eccardi)

Reserva de la Biósfera Pantanos de Centla

Janet Schwartz has been working with Susana Hayward of Knight-Ridder on news stories in Mexico. Here's one they collaborated on.

KR Washington Bureau | 05/30/2003 | Mexico's Fox initiates human smuggling arrests

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Waters rise behind massive dam

We finally have in hand a CFE (federal electrical commission) report on the Boca del Cerro dam project on the Usumacinta River in Mexico. It includes drawings of the dam and spillways, a timeline for construction, and the customary assurances that everything environmental and archaeological will be studied and dealt with.

It will take some time to evaluate this report and other documents that Homero and Betty Aridjis have passed along to us, but here are two of the drawings. (Click for larger versions)

The quality is rescanned photocopies, so my apologies. But it is the most detailed information we have received so far.

From the "Arizona Republic" newspaper.

This story covers the border with Guatemala at the Suchiate River, but the Usumacinta also had boatfuls of immigrants, mojados as they call them, when we traveled on it in March. On one beach we picked up hundreds of identical styrofoam "clamshells", takeout lunch trash that the coyotes gave their customers for the trip across and downriver. Someone told us that 300 people a week made the trip on that stretch of the Usumacinta.

Southern Mexico's trail of tears

Here, with formatting that I will have to work on (apologies to Ron and Chris) is Ron Canter's study of possible Maya portage routes on the Usumacinta River. We will create a PDF version with maps at some point, but the report is important enough to our current efforts that making it available now seems to me to be a priority. (Full text with footnotes below - click MORE)

The Usumacinta River Portages from the Maya Classical Period to the Present
By Ronald L. Canter, cartographer, Federal Aviation Administration

Introduction

Ronald Canter and the Geography of Mesoamerican Canoe Culture
By Christopher Shaw

Ronald L. Canter, a cartographer for the Federal Aviation Administration, in
Washington DC, belongs to the tradition of so-called amateurs who have made
significant contributions to Maya studies, through their immersion in the
latest advances and the rich lore of the field, as well as their knowledge
of the geography and personal experience of the living Maya. Canter,
self-effacing, judicious, and cautious in the extreme (though hardly timid),
is the model of a serious, self-taught scholar from an earlier time. Indeed,
some of the most celebrated Mayanists began as "amateurs."

In the U.S. Canter's twenty-year, in-depth study of the ancient and colonial
canoe geography of
the northeastern United States has already culminated in the reopening of
750-miles of traditional canoe routes through northern New York and New
England, part of a once even more extensive system of inland waterways. Now
called the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, the route runs from Old Forge, New
York, in the Adirondack Mountains, to northern Maine, all of it legally and
continuously navigable for the first time in more than a century. Canter is
also an expert and intrepid canoe voyager himself.

Canter has likewise absorbed himself in contemporary Maya studies and the
geography of ancient and modern Mesoamerica, where the canoe--the dugout,
cayuco, or chem--served as the essential and daily means of trade,
transport, travel, war, diplomacy, and cultural dispersion over the entire
region.

This paper, best read along with the paper on Panhale by Armando Anaya
(FAMSI paper on Pomona and its Hinterland, referenced below) culminates
years of documentary research, experience, map and geological study. The
portages it describes bypassed the Usumacinta River's central, difficult,
and strategically significant canyons, just downstream from the last major
city of the uplands, Piedras Negras, and just upstream from Pomona, with its
satellites of Chinikiha--itself controlling portages between the Usumacinta
and the Rio Chacamax--and its defensive fortress, Panhale, located precisely
at the mouth of the canyon, Boca del Cerro. Here two major polities of the
Classical period, one controlling the rich upper delta and water access
inland, the other upstream access to the cities of upper drainage and the
rich resources of the distant Cuchumatan mountains, fought over one of the
most strategic junctures in the extensive network of rivers, lakes, and
bajos traversing the Maya region. When the two cities engaged in their
so-called "star wars" in the 8th century, the canyons and portages must have
been as heavily disputed as those separating lakes George and Champlain from
the upper Hudson River in North America's French and Indian War.

Until recently, however, river navigation, the properties of ancient
cayucos, and the practice of portaging, have remained obscure to many
archaeologists, obscuring in turn the geography of the Usumacinta and the
importance of the canoe. (Thompson, Schele, Freidel, Hopkins, Houston,
Aliphat, and Hammond are among those who have seen its importance.) The
portage itself, for instance, a poorly understood phenomenon to
non-canoeists, is a mere nuisance rather than the blockage to navigation it
is often assumed to be, especially in terms of long-distance travel and
trade.

In the time frame of voyages such as those undertaken by coastal and inland
traders from the Olmec to the post-Classic, portaging or even constructing
new boats amounted to no great loss of time. Those navigators surely
encountered dangers and uncertainties that held them up much longer. Like
whalers, however, they were unconstrained by the time-limits of a vacation
or a sabbatical. Gone for months at a time, or with no homes at all, they
had the time wait out sudden floods from unseasonable rains, to use any
number of strategies to get around difficult passages. They could portage
their cayucos over short distances using logs for rollers, for instance, as
cayuco builders still do. Over longer distances, they could carry their
goods and equipment in stages from one set of boats to another.

In Classical times, they would have portaged when possible, purchased or
hired new boats on the opposite side, or even built new ones. They might
carry only their cargo and run the boats down navigable rapids, or, in a
pinch, launch their empty boats down a rapid and pick them up on the
downstream side, a technique used by Wolfgang Cordan's vogas on the Jatate
in the 1960s, and a probable technique on the Usumacinta canyons. They might
"line" their craft from shore, using ropes, construct canals between low
lying waterways, or build dams with runnable sluiceways, such as Alfred
Siemens has described on the Rio Candelaria. All these methods are in the
documentary or archaeological record. When viewed this way marginal
landscapes and waters that once appeared land-bound now appear within the
navigation capabilities of canoe people The landings at the ends of portages
naturally became, as they did all over North America, places where travelers
congregated, where trade and cultural exchange happened, where cities grew.
Inevitably they also became points of
strategic control.

San Jose Canyon is the only extended stretch of questionable navigability on
the Usumacinta corridor, especially at certain water levels. For craft of
sufficient volume, with experienced crews, it is also navigable much of the
year. In sporting terms, it rates a Class III at average winter levels,
advanced-intermediate difficulty for canoes by the International Standard of
Whitewater Difficulty. It seems certain therefore that local and far-flung
teams of Maya in large canoes, such as those depicted in the art record,
sometimes ran it. (We also know monteros ran the canyons, often illegally,
in the nineteenth century.) But the Usumacinta is subject to enormous volume
differentials, and for long periods of the year the canyons are unnavigable.
At such times the only recourse, even for the most intrepid river runners,
is to portage.

Canter's research and experience uses colonial records and those of more
recent travelers, such as Maler and Morley, contemporary reports (including
this writer's), current scholarship, and his professional expertise with GIS
technology, to paint a detailed picture of the canyon geography from a canoe
navigator's point of view. It also uses one of the intangibles unavailable
to the desk-bound professional, a deep knowledge of "canoe behavior" as it
has been practiced all over the western hemisphere for a hundred centuries.
We know from expedition reports, ethnography, art, and our own experience,
how canoe people meet the challenges of specific geographies. It is a
remarkably consistent record over time and distance, and there is no reason
to suspect it was any different for the ancient canoe travelers of the
Usumacinta.

It is also essential to understanding the meaning of the Maya region's "deep
landscape," the subtle and not immediately visible interplay of its shapes,
features, idiosyncrasies. To ancient minds, at least those who lived near
water, the geography would have been a seamless continuity, as the Aegean
was to the children of Piraeus, or coastal New England to the wives of New
Bedford. To Classical travelers and citizens along the rivers, the region
would have been imprinted on mental maps by story and anecdote from Pomona
to Rio Azul, and from Cancuen and Tonina to Yaxchilan: place names,
"portals," battles, stories, hazards, available women, mythic overtones. A
young canoe trader from the delta may already have known to hug the left
shore when running San Jose Canyon before he even laid eyes on it.

Within this essential understanding lies the meaning of the relationships
connecting Pomona, Panhale, Piedras Negras and all the upstream cities;
ultimately of the entire Classical era. It is also this understanding, this
irreplaceable piece of the Maya puzzle, that would be obliterated forever by
an unnecessary and useless dam at Boca del Cerro.

Canter is currently preparing a detailed map of the portage routes. And
while the Usumacinta portages are only one small fragment of the region's
ancient and modern water routes, this description, likewise, is only the
first installment of a life-work that will describe the navigable waters of
the entire Maya region. It is already the only such guide in existence. When
complete it will be an invaluable multipurpose resource.

Christopher Shaw is author of Sacred Monkey River (Norton, 2000), and
co-founder of Rios Mayas.

***************************************************

The Usumacinta River Portages in the Maya Classical Period
By Ronald L. Canter

Distance: 47 km from El Porvenir to Boca del Cerro, with options ranging
from 26 to 65 km.

Portage Option #1: El Porvenir to Tenosique or Boca del Cerro, 46 or 47 km.

Many ancient portage routes in Mesoamerica can be tentatively reconstructed
by extrapolating from the ends of navigation upstream and down, examining
and understanding the controlling terrain features, and considering the
distribution of known Maya sites. [fn1] When this approach is applied to
finding the most likely carry past the Usumacinta canyons, between Piedras
Negras (Y'okib) and Boca Del Cerro, at the head of upstream navigation, the
logical route follows a linear karst valley in Guatemala and Mexico running
from El Porvenir, just downstream from Piedras Negras, to Corrigedora Ortiz
(Tres Champas), then over a low divide to Francisco Madero. The second half
of the route would work north through the limestone hills to reach the
lowlands, where the river emerges from the canyons into the broad estuary of
the delta.

Not only is this route the obvious choice topographically, it is indeed the
well-documented 19th-century portage trail. From Desempeño, the historical
trail at first worked through karst ridges (the expression of a transverse
arch crossing the La Linea Syncline), on which sit Piedras Negras and El
Porvenir. It then followed a karst valley the rest of the way. The valley,
which parallels the La Linea Syncline, is the only route that avoids high,
dry, and rugged karst ridges. It would have been the best route in any
period, from Preclassic to Postclassic. In the Classic, however, downstream
through-paddlers probably shortened it by starting from El Porvenir.

The ejido Francisco Madero lies on a calm pool 20 km downstream from El
Porvenir (33 km from Desempeño), one of the few places in the canyons where
a ferry crossing by canoe is practical. But it is not the end of the
portage. [fn2] The 19th-century trail continued north from there for 26 km,
first following the river, then winding between knobs and over ridges a few
kilometers east of San Jose Canyon. From Los Rieles the trail used the
valley of Arroyo Tepesquintla to drop down to the coastal plain, passing
Adolfo Lopez Mateos on the way. From the edge of the hills, the old trail
bee-lined through Rancho Grande, to Tenosique (Tanoche), 46 km from El
Porvenir and 59 km from Desempeño. It represented a good compromise between
a reasonable grade and directness, and probably reproduces a Postclassic
trail.

Using a digital terrain model, however, Armando Anaya calculated the line of
least effort between Piedras Negras and Pomona. The resulting trace closely
follows the known19th-century portage as far as Adolfo Lopez Mateos, in the
foothills. It then veers west-northwest along the front of the mountain,
past the Rojo Gomez site, to the Usumacinta near Panhale, 47 km downstream
from El Porvenir. Dr. Anaya's computer-generated trace is a very logical
compromise between effort and directness, and a very good candidate for a
well-used Classic Period portage trail.

Anaya refers to unconfirmed reports of a gravel causeway heading west from
Rancho de Herradura, 7 km downriver from Panhale, on the west shore of the
river at Arroyo Tacalate a mere 6 km east of Pomona [Pia], which may have
been Pomona's port on the Usumacinta. It would be interesting to see if a
corresponding port exists somewhere on the Rio Chacamax, north of Arroyo
Negro and 8 km west of Pomona. If so, then Pomona would have occupied the
height of land near the midpoint of a 14 km portage between the two rivers,
and controlled a port on a river approach to Palenque.

Option #2, El Porvenir to Chuncheje or Lindavista, 34 to 40 km.

The shortest valley route between definitely navigable sections of the
Usumacinta required ferrying across the river between canyons. By ferrying
the river at either Francisco Madero or San Jose Usumacinta, porters could
then follow a broad valley (the northern extension of the "Intermontane
Valley" along the La Linea Syncline) west to the Santa Margarita site, and
then northwest through Victorico Grajales. From the Las Delicias Maya site
and village, old trails once ran north between broken hills to the river
opposite Chuncheje, then northwest to Lindavista, 3.5 km upstream from the
Boca bridge. A portage from El Porvenir to the river between Chuncheje and
Lindavista would have passed directly to the head of navigation below San
Jose Canyon. This portage option would have cut 7 to 13 km from the 47-km
trail carry from El Porvenir to Panhale. (Chuncheje is 34 km from El
Porvenir and Lindavista is 40 km from El Porvenir.)

On his 1953 "La Selva Lacandona" map, Frans Blom marked the river as again
becoming navigable, at a point labeled Chuncheje, about 10 km upstream of
Boca del Cerro. In low water, Chuncheje appears to have been the head of
navigation. Lindavista may have been as high up as dugouts could reach in
high water. The rapids of Iguanas (Boca Del Cerro) Canyon are minor. Neither
variation was used in the 19th century because vogas and boatmen for the
monterias were simply forbidden to run any part of the canyons. (They
sometimes did anyway.) A chain of Maya sites marked on Blom's map between
Santo Tomas and Lindavista fits the most likely route nicely, and supports
the probability of an actual Classic period portage from El Porvenir to
Chuncheje and/or Lindavista. Between Las Delicias and Lindavista three Maya
sites are strung along a terrace 30 meters above the river: Ojo de Agua,
Camino a Las Delicias, and Chinikiha, where a bat mural, fine sculpture
[fn3], unusual Preclassic ceramics, and a ball court have been unearthed,
suggesting it was a site of some importance. The Lindavista (Boca de
Chiniquija) site sits beside the river and seems a likely port site. All
four would be inundated by a 40 meter dam at Boca del Cerro.

During the Classic Period, Pomona established a fortress at Panhale,
directly in the Boca Del Cerro gap, where the Usumacinta breaks out of the
mountains south of Tenosique. The site controlled river traffic through Boca
del Cerro and the most likely portage around all the canyons. According to
Anaya, steep slopes and "massive platforms and observation points" protect
its hilltop ruins. Panhale Acropolis 2, an eyrie perched 320 meters above
the coastal plain, caps the highest peak overlooking the north shore of the
Usu', making the site the Maya equivalent of a Rhine castle. [fn4]

Panhale was in the thick of the moves and countermoves of two great Maya
cities throughout the Classic. It may be a key to understanding the regional
conflicts and trade routes of the Classic period. Pomona and its outliers
were well sited to dominate the best land and water routes between the
lowlands and the upper Usumacinta basin. Most of Panhale would be torn apart
by construction of any dam placed in the mountain gap. Its destruction would
be an irreplaceable loss. In fact, the site's Group B has already been badly
damaged by quarrying and CFE exploratory work.

A broad pass at La Estrella, just 7 km south of Pomona, separates the
lowlands and the valley of the Rio Chiniquija (See discussion of Portage
Option #4), controlling traffic on and between the rios Usumacinta and
Chacamax. The valley of the Chacamax also provides a natural approach to
Palenque from the east. Therefore, Pomona and Panhale would have controlled
every reasonable route from Piedras Negras to the coastal plain. According
to Stephen Houston, "Pomona was the natural enemy of Piedras Negras: it
controlled a different ecological zone to the north and formed a bottleneck
through which Piedras Negras would naturally choke." Pomona's one weakness
was a lack of natural defenses, which Panhale may have partly alleviated.

Piedras Negras launched two "star wars" against Pomona, first in 792 and
then in 794 CE. The wars ended in a crushing defeat for Pomona. There are
three possible scenarios for Panhale's involvement. It may have turned a
blind eye to the second attack, i.e. double-crossed Pomona, since no army
could pass without notice. It may have been thinly garrisoned and overrun
before Pomona could send reinforcements. Or, the nobility and forces of
Pomona may have taken refuge in Panhale and eventually fallen to a
determined siege, Tolkein's "Helms Deep" scenario played out in real life to
a grimmer end. Dr. Anaya's continued research could solve the riddle, but
dam construction on the site would forever close the book.

Option #3: El Porvenir to Chuncheje via San Jose los Rieles ? 36 km.

Another short route from El Porvenir to navigable water at Chuncheje may
have followed the 19th century portage almost to San Marcos, then swung left
through the San Jose Los Rieles site, ferried across the river, and followed
a narrow linear valley west 4.5 km to the pool at Chuncheje. Such a route is
only 36 km long, vs 47 km from El Porvenir to Panhale. Only one small site
lies along it, so this route remains hypothetical.

Option #4: La Linea to Lindavista ? 26 km.

A theoretical portage, that may have passed from Rapidos La Linea west
through Morelos [Jose Maria Morelos y Pavo], then north through Vista
Hermosa to Lindavista, would have avoided all the canyon's rapids. At 26 km,
it would have been short. However, to get out of the canyon porters would
have had a steep climb of more than 200 meters in two km from La Linea to
Netzahualcoyotl. From there, a rough modern road through Nuevo Retiro and
Morelos crosses a high, rugged karst plateau. Between Morelos and Vista
Hermosa the road drops into the valley, descending 300 meters in five km.
The last leg to Lindavista would have been flat and easy. There are no sites
reported along most of the projected route. The climb and descent are both
greater and steeper than on any other possible portage, offsetting the
advantage of shorter distance. It is the only projected route that climbs up
and over the highest range of mountains. Overall, this portage option seems
unlikely to have been used much, if at all.

Option #5: El Porvenir to Rio Chacamax ? 65 km.

A last possible route could have made an end run around the Boca del Cerro
Ridge. By continuing west 11 km from Chinikiha 5 up the valley of Rio
Chiniquija to the Old Tenosique Road at La Estrella, travelers could reach
the lowlands at Coronel Gregorio Mendez Magana. [fn5] (Penjamo, the old
name, was more compact.) From the wide, low pass at La Estrella, Pomona is
only 7 km north, and the rios Usumacinta and Chacamax are both equally
accessible. In fact, travelers headed upstream from the coast in the wet
season would have found a route up the Chacamax, then overland for 65 km via
Chinikiha and Santa Margarita to El Porvenir, faster and less work than
other routes. The Rio Chacamax has less current and is 140 km shorter than
the comparable section of the Usumacinta. The Tierra Blanca site, on the
Usu' at the mouth of the Chacamax, shares an unusual daubed volcanic-glass
beaded Preclassic ceramic type with Chinikiha, suggesting long and direct
contact between the two via the Rio Chacamax. There are also suggestions of
Olmec-Chinikiha contacts, per Dr. Rands The directness and ease of upriver
travel on the Chacamax would more than offset a longer portage to El
Porvenir. The Rio Chacamax may have been a key part of long distance trade
networks in the region, and its shores merit more attention.

To summarize:
In the 19th Century the Usumacinta Portage ran north from Desempeño for 59
km to Tenosique on the Usumacinta below the canyons. A Classic Period
portage would have been constrained by topography to follow much the same
route, but probably started at El Porvenir and ran to Panhale, as Armando
Anaya has demonstrated. This probable Classic Period portage would have been
47 km long, 12 km shorter than the 19th century trail. A number of other
options were possible. Most involved ferrying across the Usumacinta and then
following the south shore, either to continue downriver by boat, or to
travel west through the valley of the Rio Chinikija to Pomona and the Rio
Chacamax. Coming up the Rio Chacamax, and then carrying 65 km south to El
Porvenir, would have avoided 140 km of current and meanders on the
Usumacinta. Since the region was not at all wild in the Classic, it is
possible that all portage options were used, as occasion demanded. A
proposed 40-meter dam at Boca del Cerro threatens to destroy at least five
known Maya sites, and possibly others not yet located. Of those, Panhale
and Chinikiha may hold keys to the puzzle of past trade and conquest routes.
Chinikiha is at the juncture of several portage options. The destruction of
Panhale, a Maya mountain fortress in the Boca del Cerro gap, could retard
understanding of the long running feud between the major cities of Piedras
Negras and Pomona.

Footnotes

1. Every portage discussed here would have been far too long to haul dugouts
across. The cargo would have been carried from one set of canoes to another.
2. Christopher Shaw, on his 1989 descent, saw a Chol cayuco workshop in
operation there.
3. Per rubbings done by Merle Greene Robertson of pieces looted from
Chinikiha.
4. A major function of castles along the Rhine River in Germany was to
"control" traffic, ie. extort tolls to enrich local barons. Tolls were
cumulatively so high that some overland routes, though arduous, were
competitive with upriver Rhine traffic, and not radically more expensive
than downriver. Today, regulated tolls levied by the communities along the
Usumacinta might be a reasonable alternative to violent and
counterproductive banditry.
5. Chiniquija means "Mouth of the Disappearing Water". The river sinks east
of Reforma Agraria, flows under a karst ridge, and reappears 2.5 km north.
The Old Tenosique Road connects Reforma Agraria to the lowlands, first
through a narrow pass in a karst ridge separating the upper and lower
valleys of Rio Chiniquija, and then via the pass at La Estrella.

Bibloigraphy

"Research takes you places you absolutely don't want to go, and rattles all
your preconceptions." Nicholas Clooney, 2002.

Books and Articles:

1. Routes of Communication in Mesoamerica: the Northern Guatemala Highlands
and the Peten, Richard E. W. Adams, 1978. In "Mesoamerican Communication
Routes and Cultural Contacts", New World Archaeological Foundation
2.Classic Maya Landscape in the Upper Usumacinta River Valley, Mario M.
Aliphat, 1994. University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
3. Site Interaction and Political Geography in the Upper Usumacinta Region
During the Late Classic: A GIS Approach, Ph.d. Dissertation by Armando Anaya
Hernandez, 1999
4. The Pomona Kingdom and its Hinterland, Armando Anaya Hernandez, 2002.
FAMSI Report
5. Letters from Mexico, The Fifth Letter, Hernan Cortez, 1525.
6. Long Distance Transport Costs in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, Robert D
.Drennan, American Anthropologist Research Reports, 1984
7. River of Ruins, Louis Halle, 1941. Henry Holt & Co., New York, NY.
8. Classic Maya Canoes, Norman Hammond, 1981. International Journal of
Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration, (10-3): 173-185
9. In the Land of the Turtle Lords, Stephen Houston, 2000. FAMSI Report
10 Among the River Kings, Stephen Houston, 1999. FAMSI Report
11. Between the Mountains and the Sea, Stephen Houston, 1998. FAMSI Report
12. The Piedras Negras Project, Stephen Houston and Hector Escobedo, 1997.
FAMSI Report
13. Commerce and Trade Routes of the Maya, Christopher Jones, 1990,
University Museum, UPA.
14. River of the Sacred Monkey, Dimitar Krustev, 1970.
15. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, Simon Martin & Nikolai Grube,
2000. Thames & Hudson, Ltd. London, UK.
16. Palenque and Selected Survey Sites in Chiapas and Tabasco, Robert L.
Rands, 2002. FAMSI Report
17. The Maya Chontal Indians of Acalan-Tixchel, France V. Scholes & Ralph L.
Roys, 1948.
18. Sacred Monkey River, Christopher Shaw, 2000. W.W Norton & Co.
19. Incidents in the Life of a Maya Archaeologist, Edwin M. Shook & Winifred
Veronda, 1998. Southwestern Academy Press, San Marino, CA
20. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, John Lloyd Stephens, 1843. Republished
1963, Dover Publications, New York, NY.
21. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, John Lloyd
Stephens, 1841. Harper & Bros, New York, NY. Republished 1969, Dover
Publications, New York, NY.
22. Classic Maya Place Names, David Stuart & Stephen Houston, 1994. Studies
in Pre-Columbian Art & Archaeology, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, Wash,
DC.
23. Canoes and Navigation of the Maya and their Neighbors, J. Eric S.
Thompson, 1951, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society
24. Voices from the Rapids, Wheeler, Kenyon, Woolworth, & Birk, 1975.
Minnesota Historical Society
25. The Flowing Road, Caspar Whitney, 1912. J. B. Lippincott & Co,
Philadelphia, PA.>

Maps

1. The Ancient Maya World, Cartographic Division, NGS, 1989
2.Carta Fotogeologica Del Peten, series of reconnaissance geological maps at
1:100,000
3. La Selva Lacandona, y Tierras Colindantes, Frans Blom, 1953. Superb map.
4. Map of El Peten, Guatemala, and Bounding Regions of British Honduras and
Mexico, Carl Hubbs & Henry van der Schalie, 1937
5. Map of Tabasco, 1579, circle map attributed to Melchior de Alfaro Santa
Cruz.
6. Mapa Base de las Cuencas de los Rios, Mexico y Guatemala, 1:500,000,
1980.
7. Mapa de la Republica de Guatemala, Escala 1:1,000,000, Teodoro Paschke,
1889. Shows colonial trails, Peten, Escala 1:800,000, 1900. Rough schematic
of trails.
8. Sistema Fluvial Tabasqueno, 1946, map showing limits of navigability for
rivers of Tabasco, and over a dozen ruins.
9. Topographic Maps of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, 1:250,000 series and
partial coverage 1:50,000 series

Web Sites
http://www.famsi.org/reports/00082/index.html The Pomona Kingdom and its
Hinterland, Armando Anaya Hernandez, FAMSI Report, Dec 2002
http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=online/news/usumacinta
"Maya Sites Face Flooding", Jason McGahan, Archaeology Magazine, Feb 19,
2003

From the University of Virginia School of Law (via Chris Shaw's lawyer son, Noah):

A report on a symposium that addressed some of the issues we will deal with, in creating a binational reserve around the Usumacinta River.

Symposium on International Watershed Management Reveals Need for Public Participation

I was happy just to be the driver on the expeditions to Chinikiha in November and February. The photo above shows our group on the later trip (click on image for larger photo).

David Stuart and Alfonso Morales wrote a summary of the site and the dangers from the proposed dam. Joel Skidmore posted the story on Mesoweb:

Mesoweb Reports - Chinikiha: The Modern Threat to an Ancient Kingdom

Here's a good overview of plans for dams and opposition to them in a number of Latin American countries.

Latinamerica Press: Rivers threatened by development

Our recent trip on the Usumacinta River, a "microflotilla" in preparation for next year's larger event, was part of an International Day of Action coordinated by the International Rivers Network.

IRN:International Day of Action Against Dams & for River, Water & Lffe

The Natural Resources Defense Council has named the Usumacinta River one of its "Biogems," and has made protecting it a high priority. Thanks to Ari Hershowitz for his help in this effort.

Save the Usumacinta River

Tabasco Governor Manuel Andrade Díaz said yesterday that there exists no project to build dams on the Usumacinta, and that studies aimed at such a project have been cancelled.

Last fall, Governor Pablo Salazar of Chiapas declared that there would be no more dams built in his state. The Boca del Cerro dam would be located in Tabasco.

Tabasco Hoy || Descartan construcción de hidroeléctrica en el Usumacinta

(Thanks to Alfonso for the link)

Another Tabasco Hoy article from Alfonso. Click MORE to see full text.

Rechazan hidroeléctricas
* Organizaciones no gubernamentales se oponen al
proyecto de presas

Pedro Sala García
Tabasco HOY/Corresponsal

Emiliano Zapata.- Integrantes de Organizaciones No
Gubernamentales (ONG's) encabezadas por la Asociación
Ecológica Santo Tomás, se pronunciaron aquí en contra
de la construcción de presas en el cauce del Río
Usumacinta.

"Enfatizar nuestro rechazo a la construcción de
cualquier represa sobre el Río Usumacinta porque
dañaría seriamente las comunidades de su área de
influencia y los ecosistemas. Del mismo modo
rechazamos cualquier proyecto con generación eléctrica
dentro del Plan Puebla-Panamá", refiere un documento
que dieron a conocer.

Asimismo, manifiesta que "el oponerse a la
construcción de presas en los ríos en nuestros países
forma parte de la declaración del Foro Mesoamericano
por la Vida, Agua, Luz y Tierra para los pueblos,
hecha en Guatemala en marzo del año pasado".

Al participar en un foro organizado en esta localidad
por el Centro de Estudios para la Democracia de
Tabasco (Cedestab) que encabeza el diputado federal
Humberto Mayans Canabal, Elías Sánchez Pérez a nombre
de Santo Tomás argumentó que "la construcción de
presas en los ríos, altera el cauce natural de los
mismos, inundan, afectan y desplazan a las personas de
sus comunidades en su área de influencia, destruyen
lugares sagrados e históricos y causan la muerte de
los ecosistemas y su gran biodiversidad".

Explica además que su oposición a la construcción de
ese tipo de instalaciones se debe además a que "con
estos efectos se viola flagrantemente la
autodeterminación de nuestros pueblos, afectando
además el patrimonio y la cosmovisión de los pueblos
indígenas de la región".

Asimismo reiteran su llamado a los pueblos de los
alrededores, para continuar su resistencia popular en
contra de la edificación de las represas y de las
políticas neoliberales complementarias.

En su documento abundan al destacar que "hemos
constatado datos alarmantes en los que se menciona que
entre 40 y 80 millones de personas en el mundo, han
sido desplazadas por la construcción de este tipo de
proyectos; que han sido en su totalidad para
beneficiar a grupos de poder económicos con el apoyo
de las instituciones financieras internacionales y
mutilaterales y que se vinculan altamente con las
nefastas acciones preparadas por los diversos tratados
comerciales.

"La construcción de presas en ríos, altera su cauce
natural, inundan, afectan y desplazan a las personas
de sus comunidades...y causan la muerte de los
ecosistemas".
Elías Sánchez Pérez
Miembro del grupo Ecológico Santo Tomás

Alfonso just sent me an article from Tabasco Hoy on the ecological disaster that a dam on the Usumacinta could bring. The full text is below (CLICK MORE) and I will try to find the link.

MUNICIPIOS

El proyecto de presas,
ecocidio en Usumacinta

* Prevén desastre ecológico por la construcción de
plantas hidroeléctricas
* Presenta Cedestab Declaración del Usumacinta para
proteger el río

Pedro Sala
Tabasco HOY/Corresponsal

Emiliano Zapata.- estro entorno de la región
Usumacinta, nuestro medio ambiente, nuestro único
medio de vida, está en peligro, todavía mucha gente no
cree que la problemática ambiental puede ser fatal,
por lo que no debemos de permitir que se sigan
agotando nuestros recursos naturales", afirmó el
presidente de Cedestab.

El titular del Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo
Democrático, Económico y Social de Tabasco (Cedestab)
Ventura Bernat Bolivar en este municipio dio lectura a
lo que fue denominada La declaración del río
Usumacinta: flora, fauna y hombre pueden perdurar.

Ante la presencia del diputado Humberto Mayans
Canabal; de Gabriela Gutiérrez de Lomasto, cronista de
la ciudad de Villahermosa; de Elías Sánchez Pérez, de
la Agrupación Ecológica Santo Tomás, y de integrantes
del Cedestab, Bernat Bolivar manifestó que "no podemos
permitir que se sigan agotando nuestros recursos
naturales".

"Debemos de vivir en un medio ambiente cada vez mejor.
Tenemos que darnos cuenta de que todos somos
responsables de lo que le está pasando al Río
Usumacinta y a su región", destacó.

Y abundó: "los tres niveles de gobierno no pueden
actuar solos. Cada uno de nosotros puede hacer mucho
con su participación, con difundir la conciencia y el
ejemplo".

"Es importante darnos cuenta -agregó- de que la tala
inmoderada contribuye enormemente a la generación de
problemas de deslave de cerros y reducción de la
cantidad de agua que corre por los ríos que
posteriormente abastecen a nuestra cuenca hidraúlica,
cada día más afectada por la contaminación".

"Es inaplazable la acción de reforestación de toda la
región del Usumacinta, los árboles permiten que el
agua no se pierda y que recargue los mantos acuíferos
subterráneos. La falta de árboles en la zona hoy,
significará mañana, la grave escases del agua que
todos necesitamos".

Manifestó que las descargas de aguas residuales de
cuatro municipios -Tenosique, Balancán, Jonuta y
Emiliano Zapata- contribuyen de forma alarmante a
contaminar la corriente del Usumacinta, alterando los
ecosistemas de los sistemas lagunares de los Pantanos
de Centla y los existentes en la zona protegida de la
Laguna de Términos, Campeche.

De nada sirve decir "área protegida" mientras que no
se tomen acciones importantes para el tratamiento de
aguas residuales de los cuatro municipios aquí
señalados, criticó.

"Mi mayor deseo es que la esperanza que venció al
miedo de la ciudadanía, también contribuya para que lo
venzan los funcionarios públicos que carecen de ética
y compromiso moral para cumplir con los compromisos
del cargo para el que fueron designados, tal es el
caso del delegado federal de la CNA Adán Palavicini
Evia, que no entiende que las sociedades modernas como
la nuestra están para ser escuchadas, construir el
diálogo, y no para esconderse tras la excusa, medrosa
y miope, al no asistir a este evento al que ya había
confirmado su asistencia, y ahora queda como el gran
ausente", señaló.

Rescate y protección

* Objetivos de la Declaración del Usumacinta que busca
proteger el Río Usumacinta ante el atentado del que
podría ser objeto con la construcción de las presas.

1.- Identificar y evaluar los principales problemas
ambientales, sociales, económicos, normativos e
institucionales que enfrenta la región Usumacinta para
la zona costera del Golfo-Caribe y que dificultan o
favorecen el proceso de su desarrollo sustentable.

2.- Establecer los objetivos y metas sobre los cuales
se enfocarán los esfuerzos de gestión e iniciativa del
manejo para la región del Usumacinta y para la zona
costera Golfo-Caribe.

3.- Definir y proponer los términos de referencia para
la elaboración del programa del manejo integral de la
región del Usumacinta integrada a la zona costera del
Golfo-Caribe.

4.- Establecer un grupo de tareas transdisciplinarias
e interseccionales para orientar agendas de la
Declaración del Usumacinta y el Manejo Integrado de la
Zona Costera del Golfo de México y Mar Caribe.

Ed Barnhart and I plan to take a drive from here (Palenque) to the site of Pomoná near Tenosique. Seems a good time to re-post this link to the Armando Anaya report on the site.

FAMSI - The Pomoná Kingdom and its Hinterland, by Armando Anaya Hernandez

And here's a link to Joel Skidmore's Mesoweb page of Usumacinta dam updates, including an excellent summary of threats to Panhale and Pomoná:

Mesoweb Reports

Scientific American: Drought May Have Brought on Demise of the Maya

I returned last Thursday from a nine-day trip on the Usumacinta, from Frontera Corozal to Boca del Cerro. This is the stretch that is most threatened by any dam plans. And it is a trip that many have considered dangerous. Several river tour operators have stopped taking clients on this part of the river, although it has been over 6 years since the last incidents there.

I joined a group of experienced whitewater enthusiasts who had been considering this trip for many years. Several of them were doctors and nurses, some with jungle experience. Our guides had not been on the river in 12 years, but had taken a group on a scouting trip the week before our expedition.

The trip was spectacular, with perfect weather and a nearly full moon on most nights. No problems, no incidents, everyone we met was friendly and curious. We bought food and supplies from folks along the river, camped on sandy beaches and explored Yaxchilan and Piedras Negras.

My thanks to all on the trip who took the opportunity (and the risk, as many folks were happy to tell us) in order to witness and celebrate the Usumacinta.

(click thumbnails for larger images)

Ron Canter has sent in an update to an earlier note on portages in the Usumacinta watershed. The full text is below. (Click MORE)

In looking at other rivers around the world, three stand out as good
analogs to the Usumacinta: the Nile, the Ch'ang Chiang, and the Rhine. All
are ancient highways, all are replete with ancient cities and forts, and
all have a gorge section between an easy upper basin and a flat lowland
section. Aswan Dam has been a disaster for Egyptian antiquities, and the
Three Gorges Dam promises to be even worse for China in a lot of ways.
Germany doesn't dare dam the Rhine because of all the castles and towns
that would be lost. Nuff said.
Ron

Jason McGahan has a good summary of the current state of the dam controversy. Its focus is the threat to archaeological sites near Boca del Cerro.

Maya Sites Face Flooding

Homero Aridjis has a new editorial in Reforma on the Usumacinta and the CFE.

La CFE en el río de los monos

Also from Tabasco Hoy. (Click MORE)

MUNICIPIOS

Desconoce Raymundo
proyecto Usumacinta
* Si la hidroeléctrica afecta el entorno ecológico,
evitaremos que se construya, expresa.

Pedro Sala García
Tabasco HOY/Corresponsal

Tenosique.- En un amplio desconocimiento hacia el
proyecto que la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE)
tiene contemplado realizar en el alto Usumacinta y que
fuera anunciado por el presidente de la República,
Vicente Fox Quesada, el Presidente Municipal, Raymundo
Rosado Mendoza, reconoció que aunque este proyecto
tiene muchos años de haber sido planeado, el
Ayuntamiento que preside no está enterado
correctamente bien de lo que pueda suceder con la
construcción de las 5 hidroeléctricas que se han dado
a conocer a través de diversos medios de comunicación.

Añadió que si el proyecto que la CFE tiene contemplado
para esta zona del sureste mexicano no atenta en
contra del entorno ecológico y el municipio tiene la
garantía de contar con la tarifa preferencial,
estaríamos en la mejor disposición de apoyar el
proyecto, pero si está de por medio el costo de las
afectaciones ecológicas, es ahí en donde no valdría la
pena ni tampoco lo permitiríamos las autoridades que
esto pudiera realizarse, ya que primero está nuestro
entorno ecológico y después los proyectos que pudieran
ser ejecutados en esta zona.

Creo -dijo- que aquí hay que consultar a los
habitantes de las zonas aledañas y acudir a nuestra
Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
para que por medio de nuestra carta podamos defender
los derechos de los municipios libres que consagra el
artículo 115 constitucional y que da autonomía a los
municipios para decidir que se hace y que no se puede
permitir por resultar nocivo para sus habitantes y
además de ello habría que realizar estudios adecuados
para saber si el proyecto en realidad va a ser
beneficioso para la región, esto sería mas
conveniente, pero necesitamos que la Federación y el
Estado informen al municipio en tiempo y forma acerca
de estos proyectos a fin de que estemos enterados
oportunamente de que es lo que se pretende hacer con
nuestro río y nuestras reservas ecológicas.

Rosado Mendoza, subrayó: está en nuestras manos que
esto se haga realidad o se quede solamente en
proyectos como ha venido sucediendo desde hace muchos
años, esto ha sido un sueño que se ha tenido, siendo
hasta ahora que por comentarios y notas periodísticas
que se han acentuado mas, pero en realidad como
municipio, desconocemos que exista tal proyecto, para
nosotros eso es desconocido e ignoro si el Estado
tiene conocimiento de este proyecto Foxista que
pretende hacerse en contra de nuestras reservas
ecológicas y nuestro río que es el mas caudaloso e
importante de la Republica Mexicana.

Insistió en que el cañón de Boca del Cerro, desde hace
muchos años ha sido una zona de reserva ecológica,
según ha leído y escuchado comentarios periodísticos
de gentes que tienen conocimiento de este proyecto que
a nosotros no nos afectaría nuestras reservas
naturales, aunque en cierta forma

no se sabe que tipo de modalidades se va a utilizar
porque por ejemplo con especies como la pigua y el
robalo, estos suben a desovar río arriba y de suceder
eso no sabemos como van a poder hacerlo, además de que
se tiene conocimiento de que se van a inundar muchas
zonas de Guatemala y esto afectaría algunas reservas
arqueológicas y esta es la preocupación de mucha gente
que se opone a la realización de este proyecto y
nosotros apoyamos la determinación que el pueblo tome,
acotó.

Tabasco HOY Derechos Reservados 2003

From Tabasco Hoy. Secretary of Gobernacion Creel Miranda will visit the region to evaluate the impact of hydroelectric projects. (Click MORE)

TABASCO

Vendrá Creel a evaluar
impacto de hidroeléctricas
* Mañana el secretario de Gobernación recorrerá
la zona fronteriza de Tabasco, Chiapas y Guatemala.
* Recibirá también un reporte del alto paso de
ilegales rumbo a la frontera norte.

Miguel Avendaño-Murillo
Tabasco HOY

Este viernes Santiago Creel Miranda, Secretario de
Gobernación realizará una gira de trabajo por la zona
fronteriza de Tabasco, Chiapas y Guatemala para
evaluar los trabajos contemplados dentro del Plan
Puebla Panamá (PPP), así como el análisis sobre los
trabajos que la Comisión Federal de Electricidad
(CFE), realiza en el Alto Usumacinta.

Dentro de la agenda está contemplada una reunión con
autoridades guatemaltecas para evaluar los posibles
daños ecológicos y arqueológicos que la construcción
de cinco represas sobre el Usumacinta ocasionarán en
territorio guatemalteco, chiapaneco y tabasqueño.

Creel Miranda también recibirá un reporte detallado
del alto paso de ilegales hacia la frontera norte que,
según estadísticas del INM en el 2002 fueron
repatriados a sus país de origen 79 mil 79 personas
que de manera ilegal se internaron en territorio
mexicano con la intención de llegar a los Estados
Unidos, de los cuales se sabe, 40 mil 72 eran de
Guatemala, 24 mil 738 de Honduras, 12 mil 325 de El
Salvador, 745 de Nicaragua, y 973 de Ecuador, entre
otros de los que Guatemala encabeza la lista de
indocumentados aprehendidos en territorio mexicano.

Manejada como secreto de estado, esta sería la segunda
ocasión después del pasado 12 de diciembre que Creel
Miranda visita específicamente a la ciudad de
Tenosique, donde nuevamente sería recepcionado por el
alcalde priista Raymundo Rosado Mendoza, pues se prevé
que desde el aeródromo de esta ciudad inicie un sobre-
vuelo con autoridades chapinas, tabasqueñas y
chiapanecas sobre el Alto Usumacinta, específicamente
entre Piedras Negras y Boca del Cerro.

Como se recordará con fecha 28 de enero la CFE emitió
el boletín BP-08/03 que a la letra dice: "Los técnicos
de la empresa están estudiando en esa zona la posible
utilización del caudal del río para la generación de
hidroelectricidad, teniendo como limitante la
utilización del río en su cauce natural".

Todo ello, consecuencia de los reportajes de Tabasco
HOY, da