Guatemala's indigenous communities boosted by landmark reparations bill [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian

Guatemala's indigenous communities boosted by landmark reparations bill

US expected to instruct World Bank to address atrocities suffered by residents during Chixoy dam construction

Mark Tran
theguardian.com, Friday 17 January 2014 11.53 EST

President Barack Obama is poised to sign into law next week a landmark bill bringing closer the prospect of reparations for the indigenous Maya Achi community, more than 30 years after hundreds were massacred to clear the way for building the Chixoy dam in Guatemala.

The 2014 consolidated appropriations bill, involving more than $1tn, which funds discretionary government spending, instructs the US directors of the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) – which co-financed construction of the dam – to "report … on the steps being taken by such institutions to support implementation of a 2010 reparation plan (pdf) for damages suffered by the communities when the dam was built".

For more than 20 years, survivors have called upon the Guatemalan government, the World Bank and the IADB to pay reparations for the atrocities in connection with the dam. Their efforts led to the 2010 reparation plan, which was signed by the government of Guatemala, affected communities and a representative of the Organisation of American States.

Two of the provisions for reparations include compensation for material and non-material damages and losses totalling $154.5m for communities affected by the dam and implementation of a management plan for the Chixoy basin based on integrated watershed management. This includes reforestation with native plants, establishing an ecological flow adequate for the basin, and guarantees of minimum water quantity and quality.


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/jan/17/guatemala-chixoy-dam-reparations-bill