Judge Halts Construction on Mexican La Parota Dam

Judge Halts Construction on Mexican La Parota Dam



2007 September -   Lawyers for 
opponents of Mexico's proposed La Parota Dam filed a $10,000 judicial bond 
Wednesday, ensuring that all construction on the massive dam stops at 
once. 
The bond is part of a temporary injunction ordered by Mexican federal 
judge Lidia Larumbe on September 11 in support of a constitutional 
challenge against the project filed on behalf of local residents. 
Local farmers and indigenous people oppose what would be a 531 foot-high 
dam on the Papagayo River in Guerrero state. If built, the dam would flood 
17,000 hectares of forest and farmland in southwestern Mexico.

Dam opponents say the CFE made no attempt to include the campesinos, local 
farmers, in the decision-making process regarding La Parota. 
In July 2003, without giving notice or seeking permission, the commission 
sent in machinery to build two tunnels to divert the flow of the Papagayo 
River. 
Farmers from surrounding communities responded with road blockades and 
encampments to keep CFE equipment out of the area. The ongoing roadblocks 
have been largely successful, and the CFE has been forced to pull out most 
of its equipment. At a demonstration against the dam in Chilpancingo, the 
state capital, the protesters numbered 30,000. 
Not only do Mexican federal and state governments favor the plan, but also 
Carlos Slim Helú, recently named the richest man in the world by "Fortune" 
magazine - is also a promoter of the project. Slim owns ICA, the Mexican 
construction company most likely to win major contracts for the $1.02 
billion project. 
In June, as part of a global day of action aimed at sending a message to 
the Group of Eight, activists opposed to the dam held a demonstration in 
front of the Lloyd Center Sears in Portland, Oregon. They demanded that 
the Sears Holding Corporation cut all ties to Slim's company Grupo Carso. 
Slim has declared that Grupo Carso subsidiaries will be involved in every 
aspect of La Parota. 
The dam proponents face equally determined opponents. Even though 
government forces have arrested, clubbed and tear gassed residents of the 
communities under threat, those communities still maintain roadblocks that 
prevent dam proponents from entering their villages. 
Community leader Felipe Flores said, "A project cannot be imposed with 
blood and fire when people do not want it." 

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