"People’s Tribunal Defends Native Villages from Dams"

"TEMACAPULÍN, Mexico -- "'What do we stand to lose because of the dam? We will lose everything!' said Maria Abigail Agredani, a member of the committee for this indigenous community in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, reporting the damage that will be caused by the hydroelectric complex being built nearby."

1

"'We will lose the right to life, our culture, traditions, peace, happiness and freedom, our burial sites and our dead, the square, the Christ of Temaca that we love so much, the Agave temacapulinensis plant, the Verde river and 14 centuries of our people’s history,' said Agredani.

She is a member of the movement to 'Save Temacapulín, Acasico and Palmarejo,' small towns that will be completely submerged if the El Zapotillo dam is completed.

Temacapulín, a town of 1,500 people in a kind of bowl surrounded by four hills, hosted a pre-hearing this week about dams by the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT), which has held sessions in this country since October 2011."

Daniela Pastrana reports for Inter Press Service November 9, 2012.

Source: IPS, 11/12/2012