speaking
tours
articles
article archive
urgent
actions
campaigns
newsletters
delegations
THE POWER OF RIO NEGROThere is a second, larger area of disagreement between the Bank and the Rio Negro survivors over reparations. This is linked to the massacres leading up to the construction of the Chixoy dam. The survivors feel that the massacres were caused by their refusal to make way for the Chixoy dam. They want the Bank to accept responsibility, because it made two large loans for the dam. They would see such an acknowledgment as a first step toward reparations. This demand strikes a chord in Guatemala. Over 200,000 people died during the violence, and the demand of reparations has been integrated into the UN-supervised peace accords. Rio Negro is far from being the only community to suffer from violence, but it is one of the most prominent, thanks to the advocacy of Adivima, the survivors' organization, and their international non-governmental allies. The World Bank has so far refused to express anything other than sympathy. This is because it works through governments, not community organizations. In addition, it sees its mission as being to promote economic development, not protect human rights. As noted above, the Bank does apply guidelines when supporting a project that touches on sensitive social issues like involuntary resettlement. But it sees these guidelines as internal and insists that it has no formal responsibility-legal, moral or otherwise-for the impact of projects. Finally, the Bank argues that any commitments last only as long as a project. Ten million people were forcibly displaced by Bank-supported dams in the 1970s and 1980s. If the Bank accepted responsibility for Chixoy, where would it end? This, however, is precisely why Chixoy became such a potent rallying cry for the thousands who gathered in Washington in April to protest the policies of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The Rio Negro case was again brought up by critics of the Bank at the recent fall meeting of the World Bank in Prague (Czech Republic). Following the Prague meeting, two supporters of the Rio Negro survivors (Rights Action and the Italian-based Campaign to Reform the World Bank) called on Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to initiate a formal and complete investigation into the role of the World Bank and the Chixoy dam project. Eighteen years later, the Rio Negro massacres have not lost their power to shock or their symbolic importance. FURTHER READINGWeb Site LinksNISGUA Rights Action Peace Brigades International Links List Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA Guatemala Links Background Sources"A People Dammed: The Impact of the World Bank Chixoy Hydroelectric project in Guatemala," an excellent 1996 report from Witness for Peace (WFP), which has provided the starting point for subsequent investigations. WFP's home page (web: www.w4peace.org/apd.html) "Dams," the official newsletter of the World Commission on Dams. (web: www.dams.org) World Rivers Review, the newsletter of the International Rivers Network. (web: www.irn.org) "The Chixoy Dam in Guatemala and the Maya Achi Genocide,"
a March 1999 submission to the World Commission on Dams by the Reform
the World Bank campaign (Italy) and 41 other Italian NGOs. "Restitution for Communities Affected by Construction of Chixoy Dam," a March 2000 background note by Rights Action. (email: info@rightsaction.org) Report on Guatemala, from the Guatemala News and Information Bureau, in conjunction with the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). (email: nisgua@igc.org) ContactsADVOCACY PROJECT RIGHTS ACTION NISGUA Intro |