Source: Houston Chronicle, 15 February 2006



by ELIZA BARCLAY



PAROTILLA, MEXICO - As he stooped to pluck one last crawfish from the blue-green water for his family's lunch, J. Guadalupe Bailón contemplated the river's gentle current and the children diving a few yards upstream.

"When this river is dammed, we'll be able to live another way," said Bailón, who runs a small restaurant that sees few customers. "We'll make money to pay for medicines for our children."

While some of his neighbors along the banks of the Papagayo River have protested the government's proposal for a dam, many locals like Bailón see a silver lining in it in the form of economic growth in this poor area. He supports it even though the project will mean less water in the river he fishes to supply his restaurant, and others will lose land from the reservoir and dam.

"They've promised us jobs from the lake and the hydroelectric plant," Bailón said. "I believe they'll fulfill their promises."

In this muggy coastal plain where few ocean breezes blow, many scrape by growing coconuts and corn, and nearly everyone knows someone who has fled to the cities or to the United States in search of better opportunities.

The promise of a hydroelectric dam that Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission said will bring 10,000 jobs to the area as well as schools, potable water, electricity and health clinics is a hopeful offering to many. The commission said only two of the 17 communities affected by the dam oppose it in this poor, sparsely populated town in the south-central state of Guerrero.

But for a few, particularly those in the communities that will be flooded in creating the dam and reservoir, the choice is not as easy.

"They want to take our land, and they say they'll pay for it," said Marco Antonio Suasteguy, spokesman for the Council of Communities Opposed to the La Parota Dam, during a recent protest with about 60 people. "But they can't buy it because it's not for sale."

Some opponents of La Parota like Sausteguy concede they are still the minority but say the opposition is strengthening and could still force the government to put the dam project on hold.

And Sausteguy reiterated allegations in news reports that payments were made by the electricity commission to win support for the dam.

"They are paying people to raise their hand and say yes to the project during community assemblies," Sausteguy said. "They falsified signatures on the petitions and added the names of people who are dead."

Electricity commission spokesman Estefano Conde said allegations that the electricity commission had made payments or interfered with the community assemblies were "a complete lie."

"There was only a small minority voting against the project," Conde added.

The keeping of promises

The opponents also worry that once the dam is completed, the promise of long-term jobs will soon be forgotten.

"There will be jobs during the construction, but afterwards?" Sausteguy said.

But the commission projects that the dam's economic benefit will be enough to make up for the economic cost of the 3,000 people directly affected.

"The area is very marginalized, with a lot of abandonment and deterioration of the lands," said Humberto Marengo, coordinator of hydroelectric projects for the electricity commission.

Beyond the Papagayo River valley, the electricity commission said La Parota would offer the nearby resort city of Acapulco a number of benefits, including a new source of drinking water, reduced flooding risks and tourism opportunities. During the summer rainy season in past years, the Papagayo's floods have washed away shantytown neighborhoods on its banks.

Alfonso Guzman is an economist at the University of Guerrero in Acapulco who was hired by the electricity commission to figure out a way to create long-term jobs for the communities affected by the dam.

Guzman said he could understand the campesinos' skepticism because the electricity commission's track record in dam projects shows a lack of consideration for those displaced by dams.

"After the Zimapan dam was built in the state of Hidalgo 15 years ago, the town became a ghost town because there were no jobs," Guzman said. The commission provided everything - potable water, electricity, schools - but after community residents spent their money from the indemnification, they had to leave because there was nothing for them to do.

Guzman believes it will be different with La Parota.

"Things are so bad here right now economically that any training offered, any jobs will be good for the region," Guzman said. "The jobs created will be productive in tourism and agriculture."

Off to Acapulco?

Some in the tourism sector, however, worry that the displaced people will join the ranks of other migrants who have flocked to Acapulco's glittering tourist zone in search of work.

"The vendors you see wandering the streets of Acapulco are all migrants," said Mary Bertha Medina, president of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Businesses of Acapulco. "These people need fixed jobs."

According to dam foe Suasteguy, the campesinos will directly confront the electric commission by refusing to move from their land, if it comes to that.

But Guzman, who visited nearly all of the 17 communities to be affected, said the opposition movement is vocal but small.

"The large majority is in favor," Guzman said. "A lot of them will probably just take the money and leave."