COPAE  2010-02-01 22:44   

By Alejandro Alfaro Santiz

San Marcos: 250 arrest warrants, 5 municipalities without electric energy, 3 State of prevention, 2 murders and one transnational (known for its actions in Latin America) working very closely with the “Mayan face” government. Before getting into detail of what´s happening in San Marcos it´s necessary to learn the context in which things are happening. For that I´ll use information from the Flacso publication, by Victor Ferrigno, “Guatemala the Dark business of Light” 2009.

Guatemala has the highest electric bill in Central America; demand of the service had almost equaled the offer; electric generation depends mostly in hydrocarbons, provoking high index of pollution; expenses are socialized and profits are privatized; and the legal frame that regulates the process, from generation to commercialization is lacks transparency and allows a series of privileges that the consumers have to pay.

With a potential to generate 13,000 MW with renewable sources (Ministry of Energy and Mines - MEM) enough to provide electricity to Central America, we had converted into energy buyers, irrefutable evidence of the big failure of the national energetic model.

At the same time, most of the Community Consultation in different municipalities made in the last two years, indigenous populations had rejected the installation of hydroelectric dams in their territories. There are several reasons, like the lack of an obligatory and binding consultation in indigenous territories, as it’s stipulated in the 169 ILO treaty as well as the Municipal Code. Another reason is that these projects will affect plantations, human settlements and sacred places without offering any compensation or consistent Environmental Impact Studies. Projects also lack social benefits and payment for environmental services to the communities, such as forest and river conservations, which in the end make hydroelectric dams possible.

In terms of electric generation sources, the picture does not look good either: MEM states that in 1990, the time around when the privatization process started, the electric generation depended 92% on water potential sources and 8% in fossil fuels. After 15 years of “successful disincorporation” the statistics are going the opposite way, 58% of the generation depends on fossil fuels; that is an increment of almost 400%, due to the prices of oil derivates, which prices were raised 5 times in 2008.

All the data showed before, proved that in electric matters, it has been going against public rational and common interest, especially if we consider that in Guatemala the potential for water potential generation is 5,000 MW and we only use 13% of it; geothermic potential is 1,000 MW and we only use 2.65% and wind power potential is 7,800 MW with no plant of this type. These estimations had been calculated by MEM through consistent technical studies.

In this context of energetic crisis, the costs of the electric bill had sky rocketed, provoking popular upraisings and a demand for the nationalization of Union Fenosa due to excessive bills, conflicts that had ended in confrontations with public forces, cut of service in all the municipality of Ocos, taking social leaders into jail in Malacatan and the murder last October 24 of Victor Galvez, whom lead several of these struggles in the southwest of the country. Also in January 13 this year Evelinda Ramirez was murder in Km 208, jurisdiction of Genova Costa Cuca; 3 other accompaniers where wounded. They were coming back from Guatemala City after making public denounces of the abuses that DEOCSA/UNION FENOSA makes in San Marcos.

San Marcos 2009 – 2010

In the first months of 2009, 8,999 complaints where failed against DEOCSA in San Marcos, these were part of the 90,358 complaints against UNION FENOSA in the same spam of time, country wide, as it can be read on page #2 pdf version of Prensa Libre. This equals 60 complaints daily only in San Marcos. Read news

The same newspaper on a previous note on July 12 2009 points that Union Fenosa is responsible for sabotage “Guillermo Juarez, from the Public Ministry, whom participated as a mediator in the situation find out that there has been sabotage to the station, and it ordered the capture of the Engineer Angel Garcia, accused of sabotage; meanwhile the other 3 workers were set free.”
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There are two other documented cases of sabotage by the company. On October 22nd in Nuevo Progreso, 4 employees of the security company Cobra, working for UNION FENOSA, were cutting high voltage cables and were detained by communitarians. Finally they were delivered to the Public Ministry because they accepted that were sabotaging and were caught in fraganti. Sadly this event didn´t appear in the media.

On December 1st during morning hours with the support of army soldiers, UNION FENOSA workers removed 5 transformers that supply energy to 38 communities. The news was as follow:
“According to protesters DEOCSA cut electricity from 38 community when removed 5 transformers, and the National Civil Policy repressed days before a similar protest in the San Rafael Pacaya II village”

Popular pressure and blocking the road that connects with Mexico, succeed and “by miracle” the 5 transformers appeared and UNION FENOSA workers reinstalled them.

It´s important to stress that in none of the 3 cases showed, the public ministry has opened a legal file against the implicated people. All the people involved had been without exception, workers from UNION FENOSA or workers from associated business or under contract with the transnational.

From mid December on, several publications on written media, radio and TV, showed the people of San Marcos as saboteurs and responsible for the problems related to the electric energy. Nothing is farther from the truth.

Union Fenosa has dedicated itself to make excessive charges while providing an irregular service. That´s the reason why the people decided to channel their demands through the appropriate channels. The almost 9 thousands complaints during the first months of 2009 are proof of this. Due to the lack of action by government authorities people decided to take the pacific way of civil disobedience refusing to pay unfair bills.

The reaction of the company was sabotaging the electric wires (has shown previously) with the idea to accuse the people in resistance. The argument it’s ridiculous in itself, if you think a little: Which group of people will sabotage an electric station to be left without electricity themselves?
Because this practice didn´t have the expected results for the company, as the people were always organized (the saboteurs were always caught by communitarians) they simply cut the electricity on December 15th. When people started to protest and mobilize, the company allies with the government, whom decrees a State of prevention on December 22nd last year.

We must not forget that this forced black out generates serious problems for the people. After a week without energy, there was no water and people faced the risk of infect-contagious diseases. In hospitals and health centers of the area, around 40 thousands vaccines for kids of the affected municipalities were lost. The incidence of rotavirus and influenza grew up, with emphasis on children.

This State of prevention has been extended two more times, on January 4th and 14th of this year. The reason? As explained to the newspaper La Hora, by the presidential spokes person, Luis Velasquez “…some people were trying to get together to continue with the protests…”
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With all these facts, you can´t help but asking yourself, why the government authorities have 2 attitudes that could be easily marked as suspicious: or there´s an abetment silence or they do speak up and act in favor of the transnational?

As this could have happened in another department, it exploded in San Marcos. Focuses of conflict due to Union Fenosa´s abuses are multiplying like a virus… and the government with “Mayan face” still thinks that the solution is to repress the people.