9 October, 2000

Communiqué #8: Correspondence with the World Bank: "They sent us a form letter in response."

CHIXOY DAM / RIO NEGRO MASSACRES REPARATIONS CAMPAIGN: to get full compensation and just reparations from the World Bank & the Inter-American Development Bank for indigenous (Mayan-Achi) survivors of the Rio Negro community destroyed by construction of the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala

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CONTENTS

Call for your action
First letter:
In Spanish, we wrote this in follow-up to the April meeting we had with WB officials. Thanking them for meeting with Carlos Chen and ourselves, we made one formal petition: that the WB and the IDB provide funds to allow the surviving members of the Rio Negro community -- all victims of the Chixoy Dam massacres -- to undertake their own complete study of all that was lost and all that was taken / stolen from them, due to the Chixoy Dam.

Second letter:
In response to our letter, above, the WB sent us this 'form' letter. It does not even respond to the issues we raised in our May 30th letter, let alone the 2-hour conversation we had with the WB in Washington in April.

Third letter:
We sent this letter in response to their 'form' letter. In this letter, we reiterate our main points and petitions, and we respond to the WB's offhand comments about the United Nations "Truth Commission".

CALL FOR YOUR ACTION

The World Bank is not taking this Campaign seriously. In response to an April meeting -- along with Carlos Chen, survivor of Rio Negro massacres, who traveled to Washington -- and a first letter we sent the WB in May, the WB sent us a 'form' letter.

Please write, email, fax, mail or visit the World Bank, and insist that they have a responsibility to respond to and provide for the needs of the surviving members of the Rio Negro community.

Below, you will find a summary of the correspondence we have had with the World Bank.

PLEASE WRITE, EMAIL, FAX or CALL TO:

James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank
Attention to: Minneh M. Kane [Asst. to the President]
The World Bank
1818 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20433

F: 202-522-1677
E: mkane@worldbank.org

and 'cc' your communication to:

Donna Dowsett
Director of the Central America Country Management Unit
E: ddwsettcoirolo@worldbank.org
T: (202)473-0121
F: (202)676-1464

Mark Cackler
Líder Sectorial Central América
E: mcackler@worldbank.org
T: (202) 473-8999
F: (202) 676-1464

Mario Marroquin
World Bank
Guatemala City
E: mmarroquin@worldbank.org

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