Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Protest Against Puebla-Panama Plan

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, Mar 20 2004 (IPS) - Guatemalan Indians and peasant farmers planned to stage a protest against the Puebla-Panama Plan on Mar. 23, during a visit by Mexican President Vicente Fox, the promoter of the initiative. “We have prepared several pickets, and are deciding if we will organize a big march in the capital,” Daniel Pascual, leader of the Peasant Unity Committee, told Tierramérica.

The Puebla-Panama Plan “will only bring more poverty to the indigenous peoples… and it does not involve any development initiatives for the Mayas or for the great majority of poor people in Guatemala and all Central America,” he said.

“They talk about the major infrastructure projects, but do not consult about the harm they will cause the environment. We also denounce plans to bring transgenic products to our markets, because they will destroy our traditional crops like maize and beans,” added Pascual.

The stated intention of the Puebla-Panama Plan is to reinforce integration and promote social and economic development in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and nine southern Mexican states.