Victory for Guatemala’s Mayan People over Hydroelectric Plants*

Fierce opposition to hydroelectric plants in Guatemala have been ongoing since October of last year.

Guatemala’s Supreme Court has suspended the construction of two major hydroelectric plants fiercely opposed by the region’s Mayan people.

Citing irregularities in the community consultation process, the president of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), Silvia Patricia Valdés, ruled against the construction of the Oxec I and Oxec II hydroelectric plants. Until that issue is resolved, she said, the operation remains suspended.

For its part, the company claimed to be “very surprised by the decision” since it had carried out the consultation “fulfilling all the requirements of the law.”

“In any case we are waiting to be notified of this resolution,” it added.

Opposition to those and other projects have been ongoing since October of last year.

At the time, Indigenous people from the department of Alta…