Chixoy Dam Guatemala

The World Bank funded the building of the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala, a project whose adverse effects are still being felt to-date. This dam was meant to develop a reliable source of energy but instead turned out to be a burden to Guatemala and its people. Most of the methods used to force people out of their native lands during the dam’s construction were brutal and in complete violation of human rights. Intimidation campaigns and the military were used to silence resistance. Over 400 men, women and children were killed either individually or in masses as they resisted the relocation to resettlement villages. Displacement from the fertile river valleys of the Chixoy basin led to loss of productive agricultural land, pasture, and access to viable river and forest …show more content…
There would have been less resistance if the indigenous communities had been involved in the plans to build the dam since they were to lose the most in the long run. The Manibeli Declaration (1994) states that the World Bank plans, designs, funds, and monitors the construction of large dams in a secretive and unaccountable manner, imposing projects without meaningful consultation or participation by the communities affected. When planning a project, measures are supposed to be taken to ensure that the people being displaced are resettled to land that is similar in quality and quantity to the one they are being forced out of. The people being displaced by the Chixoy Dam had to abandon their way of life and look for alternative means to earn a living since they were not adequately resettled and compensated. Since the World Bank failed to evaluate the long-term effects of the Chixoy Dam project, it turned out to be a financial nightmare. Guatemala spends around US$ 150 million a year to produce electricity yet only 30% of the population benefit from electric