Hydroelectric Atlas of Mesoamerica

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By Gian Carlo Delgado Ramos * The fact that water, in addition to being a natural resource, has its dimensions that are intertwined with communications (water channels) and energy generation (hydroelectricity), places it within the framework of the PPP and the potential water crisis in the US, as an extremely strategic resource. Despite the known ecological and social costs of dams, hydroelectric schemes of all sizes are scattered throughout the region.

On the eve of the implementation of the PPP, although business elites - mostly foreign - do not agree on everything, in what they do seem to be doing, it is "essential" to get it started. In this sense, the PPP is taking shape with various projects, here and there, that are promoted by the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), among other business and government actors from the north and south involved.

Since the PPP is not a free trade agreement or treaty (as is the North American Free Trade Agreement and the alleged FTAA), but rather a "development plan"; the need to privatize and let the "benefits" of the "free market" operate turns out to be one of the central arguments. In this sense, the processes of privatization and foreign direct investment in strategic sectors have not been long in coming. Initially, the PPP must specify a general structure for the operation of industrial, agro-industrial and tourism corridors. In November 2002, during the formal presentation of the Plan to the Spanish business community in Madrid, it was pointed out that: "" it is intended to economically develop the area with the construction of 8,977 kilometers of roads and a regional electrical and telecommunications network and give a first major step to regional integration. "["] Months before, the promoters of the Plan had already indicated that, "" at least 4 thousand 17 million dollars will be destined to finance the PPP "85% of these funds will be destined to infrastructure road "(about 3 thousand 420 million)" The energy interconnection area will receive 11% of the budget "which represents 445 million dollars ... Of the 4 thousand 17 million dollars" 1,512 will be contributed by Mexico and the rest will come from financing from international organizations such as the IDB, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). "["] And of course, international cooperation and private foreign capital. anjeros!

If we try to outline the nodal composition of a corridor, we would have to include: 1) Means of Transportation to move raw materials and merchandise (seaports on the Atlantic and Pacific sides, and other means that vary according to the territorial composition allows it: water canals, high-speed railways, highways, etc.); 2) Energy to make the corridors functional, and above all to move the production systems (oil, gas and electricity - thermoelectric / geothermal, hydroelectric plants, power lines and interconnection, etc.); 3) Water for productive needs that, worldwide, around 65-70% is consumed by agriculture - the bulk of the agro-industrial type - and 20-25% by industry (dams, transfers, aqueducts, pumping, distribution and treatment systems , etc)[§]; and 4) Telecommunications that integrate the region in real time, both internally and externally (fiber optics and location of communication centers with cutting-edge technology).

The fact that water, in addition to being a natural resource, has its dimensions that are intertwined with communications (water channels) and energy generation (hydroelectricity), places it within the framework of the PPP and the potential water crisis in the US, as an extremely strategic resource. It is no coincidence that, along with the privatization process of the state water companies and their corresponding infrastructure [**], old reservoir and large-scale transfer projects are being resumed and new ones are being developed.

Despite the well-known ecological and social costs of dams, optimism seems to be holding up and hydroelectric plans of all sizes are scattered across the region. The following map shows the territorial location of the main reservoirs - under construction or on paper.

The purpose of this publication is not to deal with the problem itself, as this is addressed in another text under the title "PPP, Hydropower and Environment". The interest is to launch as soon as possible a list of projects that are contemplated, designed or are even under construction in the Mesoamerican region. In this way it is intended to offer a panoramic review. Its usefulness for discussion in social movements is timely for both Mesoamericans and South Americans (due to the implications it has for projects to transfer Colombian water and the Guaraní aquifer). Considering the above, the first approximation of the Mesoamerican Hydroelectric Atlas is presented below.

MEXICO

The de facto privatization process, as John Saxe Fernández appropriately calls it in his book La Compra Venta de México (Plaza and Janes, 2002), or the furtive privatization of the electricity sector, as described by the Mexican Electrician Union, has opened the doors to the foreignization of this strategic sector that is combined with that of oil and gas, or what Saxe-Fernández describes as the petroelectric complex. As the author indicates, the former presidents Regarding electricity exclusively, De la Madrid and Salinas had achieved, according to an informal communication from the WB, "limited success" by taking important initial steps in the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE ) and the Compañía de Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LFC). The strategy starting with Zedillo, and which continues with Fox, is to dismember such companies (in addition to PEMEX). Saxe-Fernández writes that, "" the global plan to "reform" the energy sector focuses on three interrelated points: structure, regulation and ownership. The actions it favors are: 1) "restructure the electricity sector to promote competition and allow market forces to establish precise, and thus foster operational efficiency." This deregulation persists as a recommendation despite its great failure in Argentina, England and, more recently, in California. "This scheme is also applied in Central America, even in some countries it is much more advanced (see each case below). In Mexico It is necessary to reform the Public Electricity Law of 1992 to allow private participation in the generation, transmission and distribution of energy, something that Standard & Poor (S&P) advises to do as soon as possible. According to data from Saxe-Fernández, "" the Private investment in Mexico's electricity sector amounted to 3 billion dollars (USD) between 1997 and June 2000, which represents around 17% of the 17 million USD of direct foreign investment between 1995 and 2000. " In a context in which S&P considers it necessary to accelerate the interconnection of Mexico with the US (in addition to the 4 existing interconnections; two in California and two more in Texas), the legal reform made by Salinas to specify what "was not" Service Public and that has allowed the "legal" entry of private capital to the "non-public" areas of self-generation, cogeneration, independent production, small production and export of electricity; it has consolidated the de facto privatization of the sector. (Saxe-Fernández, Op cit) This has been taking shape with hundreds of permits for activities in such "non-public" areas. There is, says the author, the case of the Enertek plant (initially owned by Grupo Alfa de Monterrey), which after increasing its capacity to 290 MW under the heading of "self-generation", was sold to Iberdrola (Spain), today for today the largest foreign private generator in the country. This is not the only business actor operating in the country, they include Enron (USA), Unión FENOSA (Spain), Mitsubishi (Japan / USA) and even Electricité de France. (Ibidem) Another one is El Paso Group (USA) which, as we shall see, has a marked presence throughout Mesoamerica. It is the third largest gas producer in the US, operates a vast network of pipelines, and "among other businesses - owns numerous electricity generating plants throughout the hemisphere that supply both the industrial sector and the distribution network.

GUERRERO, MEXICO.NameLocationAdditional InformationOmotepec-QuetzalaQuetzala and Santa Catarina rivers.1,050 mw altogether or 2,330 million kw / h per year. The first, 125 meters high, would transfer water through a 19-kilometer tunnel to Santa Catarina, which would have a height of 190 meters. The total storage capacity would be 5,380 million m3.Papagayo-La ParotaPapagayo River (30 km northwest of Acapulco)Capacity of 810 mw or 1,550 million kw / h per year .. 190 m high and 9,400 million m3. It would cover 17,300 hectares.San Juan TetelcingoBalsas River. Municipality of Zumpango del Río.609 mwOAXACA, MEXICONameLocationAdditional InformationJalapa del Marqués (expansion)Tehuantepec River. Santa María Jalapa del Marqués.It will be located in the existing Benito Juárez dam, but its? Expansion? it would reactivate the little time of life that it has left. It is promoted by the Electricidad del Istmo company and aims to produce electricity for several companies, including two breweries and 15 other national and foreign companies; all from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.Green-Atoyac1.2 km downstream from the confluence of the Verde and Atoyac rivers, and 85 kilometers northwest of Puerto Escondido.2,400 mw or 5,400 million kw / h per year. 310 meters high and a 7,500 million m3 glass. It would flood 9 thousand hectares.* Tras-isthmic ChannelSalina Cruz, Oaxaca? Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.Water canal and parallel high-speed rail lines (at least 8 tracks spanning a 500m wide strip)* Combined cycle thermoelectricPromoted by the World Bank and the GEF with a loan of 50 million dollars and with possible Spanish capital (Endesa, Iberdrola and Fuerza Eólica de España), Germans (Fuhrlander), Finns (Dewind, ABB Oy), etcetera.* La Ventosa wind projectBetween Puerto Escondido and Huatulco.Apparently there are several generator parks that would be in the hands of the? Mexican? Company. Wind Power (50% part of Enron Wind of the USA) and Ecological Parks (60% of PSI Equation of Wave of Spain).TABASCO, MEXICONameLocationAdditional InformationMexcalapaTabasco-Chiapas (27.5 km downstream from Las Peñitas, Chiapas)300 mw and 950 million kw / h per year. It would boost the Las Peñitas plant project (Chiapas) by receiving its turbinated water.CAMPECHE, MEXICONameLocationAdditional InformationChumpán (part of the Usu-Tulijá System)Chumpán River250 mw and 1,200 million kw / h per year. Dike-spillway 12 m high and 7.5 km long. It would flood 26,500 hectares. It includes an aqueduct of 21 km and in an easterly direction to take the extractions from Boca del Cerro to the Salsipuedes river that flows into Laguna de Terminos.* Balancán / Usumacinta Bypass Channel.Balancán, Tabasco-Laguna de Terminos, Campeche.236 km suitable for navigation that connect the Gulf of Mexico (through the Laguna de Terminos) and Boca del Cerro (through the Usumacinta).* Bypass Canal San Pedro / CandelariaMouth of the Cerro-Río San Pedro / La CandelariaIt is located on the right side of the Balancán channel. Together with the Chumpán dam, they would surround the heart of what would become the state's agro-industrial center.* Cantarell Integral Project80 km from Ciudad del Carmen.Classified as a supergiant, the most important in Mexico and the sixth in the world. It includes a nitrogen plant, wastewater treatment plants, drainage systems, incinerators, compactors, crushers, etc. Constructed for the most part by ICA (Mexico), a business group that was awarded 65% of the construction of the El Cajón hydroelectric plant in the state of Nayarit, Mexico (20% to Energomachexport Power Machines? Russia- and 15 % Peninsular Compañía Constructora? México-).* Combined cycle thermoelectric250 MW based on gas from the Mayakan pipeline.

CHIAPAS, MEXICO.

There are plans for about 75 hydroelectric plants in the State, the most renowned are listed below.

NameLocationAdditional InformationWhite horse

HYDROELECTRIC SYSTEM OF THE RÍO GRIJALVA (expansion)

Made up of the Belisario Domínguez-La Angostura, Manuel Moreno Torres-Chicoasen, Nezahualcoyotl-Malpaso and Ángel Albino Corzo-Las Peñitas hydroelectric plants, built between 1959 and 1987. It annexes the new Malpaso II dam and extends Las Peñitas. According to Manuel Frías Alcaraz of the Mexico project Third millenniumIt is a scheme that will promote on a large scale tourism, leisure, fish farming and navigation activities in five excellent reservoirs, where new populations can be established on their banks.

1) Chiacoasen I (extension)21 km north of Tuxtla Gutierrez (Sumidero Canyon exit)It has 5 generators of 300 mw each and 3 more would be added to achieve a? Production? 2,400 mw. It considers a series of dams to feed and control the silt in the Sabinal, Suchiapa, Santo Domingo and Hondo rivers. Likewise, an associated network would be installed to increase transmission by 1,150 MW.2) Chicoasen IIRio La Venta and Rio NegroGiven that the operation of Chicoasen I depends on the La Angostura dam (from which it feeds water), Chiacoasen II finds itself in the same situation when it is located downstream of its version I.3) CopainalaGrijalva RiverCapacity between 800 and 1200 mw. Take advantage of the? Turbulent expenses? by Chicoasen I.4) LV Malpaso IIRio La Venta and Rio Negro. 28 km southwest of Malpaso I (115 km southwest of Villahermosa)540 mw and 1,800 million kw / h per year. At 230 meters high, it would flood 5,100 hectares to reach a 3,750 million m3 basin.5) Las Peñitas (enlargement)83 km southwest of Villahermosa.It will go on to a power of 720 mw and 1,850 million kw / h per year, with 1,630 million m3, for which a second powerhouse (300 mw), a port-dock (El Mico) and a new spillway would be built. control-transfer the surplus water from La Angostura, Chicoasen I and Malpaso (which together with Las Peñitas make up the Grijalva River Hydroelectric System, built from 1959 to 1987).

HYDROELECTRIC SYSTEM OF THE USUMACINTA RIVER

Located in the triangle that runs from the border between Petén, Guatemala; Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas; and the Boca del Cerro binational project, Tabasco. It is a system of at least 6 dams, canals, aqueducts, transmission lines, roads, etc. Capacity of more than 10 thousand MW (33 billion kilowatts / hour per year). It will flood some 73,700 hectares of invaluable biological and cultural wealth (particularly Yaxchilán and Piedras Negras), in addition to causing the massive displacement of indigenous and peasant communities.0036

1) Joint Usu-Tulijá(part of the Usumacinta river system)

Rio Tulijá and Usumacinta. It includes dams a) Salto de Agua, b) Boca del Cerro (Chiapas-Tabasco), c) Bajatzen and d) Chumpán (Campeche? See corresponding table).

a) WaterfallTulijá River, Salto de Agua Municipality. 35 km west of Palenque.700 mw and 1,900 million kw / h per year. It would transfer 6.6 billion m3 of river runoff through a 23-km aqueduct to the Boca del Cerro reservoir (section of the Chancalhá river). It includes a 150 m high curtain and a storage capacity of 24.540 million m3. It would flood 39,600 hectares of tropical forest and place of settlement of indigenous communities. Turbinated water would be channeled to the Balancán-Usumacinta Bypass Canal and from there to the Champagne plant, both in Campeche.b) Boca del CerroUsumacinta River 9.5 km from Tenosique, Tabasco. It covers part of Tabasco, Chiapas and Guatemala.

4,200 mw (6 turbogenerators of 700 mw each) and 17,400 million kw / h per year (67% of the hydroelectricity generated in Mexico). 130 m high and a vessel with a capacity of 19, 550 million m3, which would be fed by 62% of Guatemalan waters. It would flood 30 thousand hectares (42% in Mexican territory) and would destroy, in addition to the amazing biodiversity, with archaeological sites such as Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan. The number of displaced is estimated at 50 thousand people.

It contemplates a 350 km aqueduct towards Yucatan so that through drainage systems and waterways they can? Recover? 1.5 million hectares of agribusiness. At a cost of $ 5 billion, is it likely to be built by Associate Civil Engineers? ICA (Mexico), associated with the French multinational Vivendi and the US construction company FLUOR, among others.

c) BajatzenShumulhá River (part of the Tulijá basin). 16 km northeast of Yajalón.690 mw and 2,530 million kw / h per year. In parallel to, or as an alternative, the Itzantún project (Chiapas) would use the water from the Salto de Agua dam, channeling it through a 3.5 km aqueduct to a 635 million m3 and 250 m high reservoir.2) Huixtán ISanto Domingo River. 63 km east of the municipal seat of Las Margaritas.1,200 mw or 3,150 million kw / h per year. Arch dam 175 m high with a 6 billion m3 basin. It would flood 9 thousand hectares.3) Huixtán IISanto Domingo River. 9km southwest of Huixtan I.600 mw or 1,900 million kw / h per year. Arch dam with a height of 225 m and a storage capacity of 1,413 million m3. It would flood 4,400 hectares (300 Guatemalan hectares) and displace (Zapatista) communities such as Amparo Aguatinta, Ojo de Agua, Las Flores and California.4) JattzaJataté River. 63 km northwest of the Quetzalli dam.900 mw and 1,970 million kw / h per year. At 235 m high, it would store 2,715 million m3 on 2,900 hectares. It will affect the communities of Las Tazas (Zapatistas and the Aric organization), Rómulo Calzada and La Sultana.5) QuetzalliLacantun River. 23 km northeast of Huixtán I and 90 km from Las Margaritas town. Right on the shores of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve.1,200 mw and 3,900 million kw / h per year. 145 m high and storage capacity of 32,375 million m3. It would flood 57 thousand hectares of cloud forest with one of the highest levels of concentration of biodiversity, particularly endemisms. However, Frías Alcaraz (Third Millennium Project) justifies it when he writes that, by controlling the enormous volumes of sugar, raising the water table and increasing the storage of aquifers, it will contribute to regenerating the flora and fauna of the Montes integral reserve. Blue ?. Likewise, the project would displace dozens of indigenous communities settled there, which in recent years have been increasingly threatened and forced to evict as soon as possible.6) Pico de Oro ProjectLacantún River. 140 km southeast of Boca del Cerro and 37 km northeast of Quetzalli.500 mw and 2,050 million kw / h per year. It would cover 21,500 hectares with 3 billion m3. Some 400 hectares would be Guatemalan territory. It would affect the entire surrounding ecological balance, and even the water would cover? Small parts? of the Montes Azules-Marques de Comillas Reserve. The displacement of the communities of the Reserve is imminent.7) ItzantúnTacotalpa RiverIt would receive the water transferred from the Tepaté, Pichucalco and Puyacatengo-Teapa rivers.8) Tacotalpa-La SierraTacotalpa River (downstream of Itzantún)660 mw and 2,185 million kw / h per year. It is a huge project that was suspended in the 1980s by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).9) NanceTzaconejá River. Alto de Chiapas 7.5km southeast of Altamirano.480 mw or 1 billion kw / h per year. 75 m high with 380 m of unevenness useful to convey water through a 7 km tunnel. It will flood with 360 million m3, about 1,400 hectares of ejido property.

GUATEMALA

The Empresa Eléctrica de Guatemala, privatized in July 1998, was 80% sold to Distribuidora de Energía de Centroamérica, S.A. - DECASA (Central American Energy Distributor). It is a consortium made up of Teco Power Corporation (USA), Iberdrola Energía de España and Electricidad do Portugal, S.A (Portugal). Another striking case is that of Grupo Generador de Guatemala y Cía. which was acquired by Constellation Energy (USA). Several contracts have been entered into for the sale and purchase of electricity produced by private initiative (which is just another form of privatization of the sector). For example, that of Generadora Eléctrica San Jose y Cia, which is controlled by Teco Power Services and the US Coastal Power Company (now El Paso Group of Colorado, USA); Generadora Electrica del Norte, Ltda., is part of the Interamerican Power & Light Corp. (part of the North American Energy Services-Itochu International) and Energy Partners of Central America (Energy Investors Fund, Grammercy Development, Inc. , IEF Global Development, Inc., Interamerican Power Light); that of Puerto Quetzal Power LLC is owned by Enron Corporation (USA); etc. Currently the presidential delegate of the PPP of Guatemala is Raúl Archiva, an official of the Shell oil company and a shareholder - along with senior military officials - of hydroelectric projects in the country.

NameLocationAdditional InformationCahabon-RenaceCahabon River. Alta Verapaz.60 mw and 290 million mw / h per year. Coyne et Bellver from France (part of Tractabel from Belgium and Suez from France)? Advisor? to the owner Renace, S.A.CamotanRio Grande / Motagua. 180 km northeast of Guatemala City.59 mw (2 generators of 29.5 mw each). 82 m high and 196 million m3. It would use the turbinated water from the El Orégano plant. It was designed by the Italian multinational ELC-Electroconsult.ChampeyRio Cahabón and Rio Dulce. 280 km north of Guatemala City.60 mw (2 turbo generators). 14 m high. Waters below the Renace hydroelectric plant.ChulacSweet River. 280 km northeast of Guatemala City.340 mw (4 turbogenerators of 85 m each) 130 m high with a capacity for 512 million m3. Designed by Lahmeyer-Salzgitter-FichtnerCanadaQuetzaltenango43 mw. Promoted by the World Bank from the IFC (International Finance Corporation). It is financed by the IFC, the Netherlands Development Bank, and the Banco de Occidente de Guatemala. The project belongs to the Italian Enel from its subsidiary Energía Global Internacional, and the construction award is in the hands of the Israeli construction company Solel Boneh and the US GE Hydro (General Electric). It is integrated into the hydroelectric plants of El Porvenir (2 MW) in San Marcos and Santa María (7.1 MW) in Quetzaltenango.The GuayaboMotagua River. 110 km northeast of Guatemala City.74 mw (2 turbines). 65 m high and 68 million m3.El PalmarQuetzaltenango. 190 km from Guatemala City.23 mw (2 turbines). Capacity of 14 thousand m3. It uses the turbined water from the Santa Maria II plant. Designed by Canadians Surveyer, Nenniger & Chenevert Inc. (SNC) and Acres InternationalLimited (ACRES)The palms61.5 km from the port of San José.60 mwThe Cows (enlargement)Las Vacas River. Chinautla, Motagua20 mw. Cleaning, maintenance and expansion by the Fabrigas company that operates in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Belize.Matanzas-Chilasco-SalaBaja Verapaz24 mw (10; 4; and 10 mw respectively). Designed by Fabrigas, they are already partially in operation.OreganoRio Grande. Zacapa, Motagua. 150 km northeast of Guatemala City.69 mw (2 turbines of 34.5 mw). 115 m high and 61.6 million m3. Interdependent with the upstream El Camotán hydroelectric plant. Designed by ELC-Electroconsult.Palín II-HondoColorado River. Río Hondo Municipality, Zacapa.60 mw. They are considered a couple of more interconnected dams. Initially, it would affect the communities of Casas de Pino, Monte Grande, El Palmo, Palma, La Pepesca, Chanchan, El Tecolote and Canaluya. The biodiversity of the area is of great importance, especially because it would touch some parts of the Sierra de las Minas reserve.PolochicPolochic RiverIn feasibility study.San IsidroBaja VerapazDesigned by FabrigasSantiaguitoSamala River48 mw from the Tecnoguat company.Santa Maria IISamala River. 190 km west of Cd de Guatemala.60 mw (2 turbines). 1.3 million m3 of capacity. Upstream from El Palmar I. Designed by Canadians Surveyer, Nenniger & Chenevert, Inc. and Acres International Limited (ACRES)SerchilChixoy-Usumacinta River. 250 km northwest of the city of Gutemala.135 mw (4 generators of 45 mw each). 140 m high and a 206 million m3 vessel. Located downstream of the Chixoy and Xalala hydroelectric plants. It was designed by TAMS / EBASCO / ICA.Ixcán-Xactbal-Chixoy-La Pasión Hydroelectric System.Rivers of the same name located in the border departments of Quiché and Huehuetenango.They adjoin Huixtán I and II, forming an integrated system of between 6 to 8 dams. On the Chixoy river, a system would be established connected to the already existing Chixoy power plant (300 mw) located in San Cristóbal, Alta Verapaz; the Chichaic hydroelectric plant (0.7 MW) in the Cobán municipality of the same department; and the planned Serchil hydroelectric plant.XalalaChixoy River and Usumacinta. 260 km north of Guatemala City.330 mw (3 turbogenerators of 110 mw each). 97 m high and 430 million m3. Waters below Serchil and Chixoy. Designed by Lahmeyer-Salzgitter-Fichtner under the funding of German International Cooperation (GTZ)* Geothermal Boilers (expansion)Pacaya, EscuintlaIt currently produces 5 mw and its capacity would be increased by 22 mw by 2004.* Geothermal Zunil I, Zunil II (50 mw), Tecuamburro (30 mw), San Marcos (30 mw) and Moyuta.Various departmentsAmong others, surely built in association with ICA (Mexico), which participated in the Amátitlán Thermoelectric Plant. Zunil I (Quetzaltenango) was awarded to ORMAT, INC. Tecuamburro (in Laguna de Ixpaco) and Moyuta (Department of Jutiapa) were designed by Los Alamos National Laboratory of the University of California with the assistance of the USAID (US Cooperation Agency). San Marcos was the product of? Collaboration? with the European Union.* Thermoelectric EscuintlaEscuintlaRepowering 120 mw.

BELIZE

The parastatal Belize Electricity Board was privatized in 1992 to 100%, becoming Belize Electricity Limited (BEL). Fortis Inc. of St. John’s Newfound, Canada owns 67% of BEL.

* BEL buys about 85% of the electricity from the Federal Electricity Commission (Mexico).

NameLocationAdditional InformationEl ChalilloMacal River, Cayo District. Mayan Mountains.7.3 mw with 35-50 m height. It would provide water for the failed Mollejón hydroelectric plant. Owned by Fortis (a Canadian multinational that controls 95% of the country's electricity - that includes Mollejón, of course), it would sell its accomplice, Belize Electricity, at 9 cents per kW-hour, even though it can import it from Mexico at 7 cents. The Macal River feeds, among others, the Belize River that flows into the Caribbean, just in front of the area through which the second most biodiverse coral reef runs in the world. With no more than 50 years of life, Chalillo would flood more than 800 hectares of unique tropical forest, since by adjoining the Mountanin Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, the degree of concentration of biodiversity, including endemisms, is outstanding. Faced with an obvious environmental debacle, the Canadian Cooperation Agency (Cida), supporting its multinational (Fortis), paid $ 250,000 to Agra, Inc. to make? A justification report for the project? and other studies, with the intention of meeting the requirements of funders such as the World Bank and the IDB. Agra Inc., merged with Amec (UK) is the third largest engineering, construction and "environmental services" multinational. Note that Agra CI power, a subsidiary of Agra Inc. and directly responsible for making the Chalillo report, offers its services particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Source: Own elaboration based on multiple journalistic notes, official and dissemination documents.

[*] Member of the Seminar? El Mundo Actual? of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Sciences and Humanities of the UNAM. He is currently carrying out his doctoral studies, under the auspices of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
[?] Gualdoni. ? Central America and Mexico launch an investment plan for more than 4,000 million.? The country. Spain, November 12, 2002. Pp. 54.
[?] The Graphic Press-Economics Office. ?AC. and Mexico meet next week? Budget distribution of the PPP ?. The printing press. The Savior. March 15, 2002. 64.
[§] In general, large dam projects are linked to massive agro-industrial irrigation programs, as well as to the generation of electricity, particularly for industrial consumption. In the world, around 65-70% of water consumption corresponds to agriculture, and the bulk of this to irrigation. The latter comprise about a sixth of the cultivated land, but contribute more than a third of the world harvest.
[**] Delgado, Gian Carlo. Privatizing the fresh water of Mesoamerica. New Society. No. 183. January-February, 2003. Venezuela.

Video: How Dams Work Hydro Dams (May 2022).

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