[Aztlan] Sierra del Lacandon and Piedras Negras Threatened

[Dave Pentecost]

Listeros

There has been no coverage in the American press, but the situation in
the Sierra del Lacandon, on the Usumacinta River in Guatemala, has
been deteriorating. Large groups of invading settlers, many backed by
narcotraffickers, are destroying the jungle in this critical protected
area.

The Maya site of Piedras Negras is in the Sierra del Lacandon Park.
The guard post for that site (at El Porvenir, and two other posts were
burned to the ground and the guards evacuated recently. This is part
of an ongoing battle that in June of this year resulted in 8 hostages,
two of them injured by gunfire. The invaders are demanding title to
the land, which is a protected area, administered by the Defensores de
la Naturaleza and CONAP in Guatemala.

You can read my site for updates on this situation:

http://www.gomaya.com/glyph

Or go directly to these recent news reports

http://www.noti7.com.gt/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8930
http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2006/agosto/06/148671.html

Earlier, guard posts at Yaxha were burned in a similar dispute, and
last week three guards at Tikal were ambushed and killed:

http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2006/agosto/06/148671.html

I am preparing a report for Frontline on the situation in the
Usumacinta watershed, but it is quickly going beyond anything I have
the power to record and present. What we are seeing is the complete
ungovernability of large areas of Guatemala, and these are areas with
high biodiversity and great cultural treasures.

Dave
-- 
The Daily Glyph http://www.gomaya.com/glyph
Usumacinta         http://www.gomaya.com/dams
Cell  917 312 9733