«THE EARTH IS NOT FOR SALE»
In January 2010, the Mexican press reported that, due to financial problems, the La Parota Dam project
promoted by the Federal Commission of Electricity (CFE) was being cancelled. The CFE came to the area
seven years ago to work on the Papagayo River without the community’s permission. The project affected
five municipalities on the Guerrero coast. It destroyed 17,300 hectares of jungle, displaced 25,000
peasants in 39 communities, and seriously and indirectly affected another 75,000 downstream.
“There have been many sleepless nights of sit-ins, 11 of us went to jail and four were murdered… And all
to defend our land.” Besides building a dedicated local resistance, which today consists of 40 communities,
the La Parota movement has learned to combine judicial and political strategies, as well as to cultivate
national and international solidarity.
Today, the Council of Communal Lands and Communities Opposed to La Parota Dam (CECOP) states, “It is a
victory, not only for our fight but also for all the organizations that stood by us and our movement. But
we dare not let down our guard. Our struggle will continue until we hold in our hands the presidential
letter saying that La Parota has been cancelled permanently.”
Text: Rodolfo Galindo Chavez
Photography: Roberto Bear Guerra, Maribel Roldón, Karina Tejada and Gonzalo Perez/Frontera Images
